Stained claws
by Sad-ninja
Summary: OC. A young man's trip through life with the Titans, and all that happens in between. Chapter 55, The end of all things.
1. Introduction to the beginning

My client was late. Then again I was a little early. Either way I didn't like having to wait.

I wasn't in a good mood anyway. I had gotten the call at my apartment less than three hours ago, and it was a two hour drive to the docks he wanted to meet at, coupled with the rain and the fact I rode a motorcycle it wasn't a pleasant trip. Oh yeah, did I mention it was 2:00 in the damn morning.

Sorry I swear when I'm pissed, oops there I go again.

Ahh I suppose unpleasantness comes with the job, being a mercenary wasn't all sunshine and lollipops. Much less a good mercenary, all that did was get you signed up with all the nut jobs. Last week some loony called me up to ask me to help in a bank robbery. When I told him my standard fee he hung up on me, it would have taken three bank robberies just to gather up the money to hire me for the one.

But enough of that, my hopeful employer was here. He fit the model just right, nice suit, umbrella and the only thing bringing any light to his face was the glowing ash from his cigarette. I looked around to make sure this hadn't become a black and white Dick Tracy film.

"A bird in the hand" my soon-to-be-employer said, in a calm tone with a slight Spanish accent.

"Is worth two in the bush" I replied. I hated these types who relied on code phrases. Like anyone else was around at two in the freaking morning.

"Hello my good sir, I am Mr. Comet, but you may simply call me Comet" The man in suit said. He gave a slight bow, never letting his face into the light.

Not that I needed light to see his face.

"And you already know my name" I replied with a yawn. "Could we get on with this, I'm tired, wet, and want nothing more than to drive home and sleep until doomsday."

"Straight to the point, I like that. Very well, I heard of your abilities through your last employer. He spoke very highly of you."

"Is that true, I told her to not let anyone know I had a hand in what happened". I replied rather perturbed at the fact the woman had lied. I mean I got back her mother, brother, and sister from a hostage situation completely unharmed. Seems she wasn't as grateful as she said she was.

"Believe me, she meant no harm by it. I merely mentioned I was in the neighborhood for a capable mercenary and you came up. If you desire we can break off this meeting." Comet stated. His tone betrayed the fact that he didn't want that to happen.

"Sigh, no don't worry about it. Just tell me what you want me to do." The rain had started to come down in force. I briefly considered just getting a hotel when this business was done, but decided against it.

"This is what I'm offering for the job." Comet handed me an envelope. I lazily tore it open and gazed at the number printed on the paper inside. The amount was enough to make even my eyes widen. I wondered if the man had forgotten to place the decimal point a few spaces up.

"If you accept you will receive half of it upfront and the other half upon completion" The man smiled a wide grin at my eyes widening, not knowing I could see him. When he smiled like that he looked like a jackal that had just stolen a meal from a predator. It was unsettling.

"You know my standard fee right; this is more than quadruple that." I honestly hoped he made an error in the printing. This much money meant the job would be very hard, and I was feeling lazy at the moment.

"No that's what I'm offering, I'm sure of it." The jackal grin did not fade "You will have a month to complete the job and you may do so any way you see fit, and even if only partial success is acquired you will be permitted to keep the advance."

I pondered it in my head for a moment, and replied "Very well, what's the job?"

Comet leaned in and, moved his umbrella, revealing his face to me purposefully for the first time, the jackal grin had faded and was replaced with a slight smirk. "I want you to kill the Teen Titans."

The statement was flatly put. No malice or anger came from Comet; if anything he exuded confidence and satisfaction. Like the Titans were already lying dead at his feet.

This is why his face contorted into anger when I flatly said "No"

I swear you could almost hear the man's plans shatter like glass right there.

"What's wrong, do you want more money? Is that it? I'll double my previous offer!" The man was obviously put off; he hadn't expected his assassin to refuse.

"My answer is still no" still using the flat tone I used to reject his first offer. As if to add finality to the point I started walking back to my bike.

I could sense the anger the man had without even looking at him. "You think you can brush me off like that!? SCREW YOU! Guys, get this lowlife, tear him a new asshole!"

At that two people seemed to dart from nowhere and stand between me and my bike. The one on the left was a tall male in a blue coat, underneath he was wearing a lighter blue shirt, and blue jeans (noticing a trend?). His hair was stark white and done into a topknot, but even then it hung done to his shoulder. His eyes were grey, and stuck out from his pale, blemish-free face.

His companion was a petite blonde woman, her figure was hard to place because she wore loose fitting multi colored robes that when she moved slightly covered up one color to reveal another. Looking at her was like gazing into a kaleidoscope. It hurt my eyes to look at her, like my eyes wouldn't focus. In her hands she held a small four-foot staff, which looked like it was covered in glitter. If he had seen her walking down the street he would say she was a middle-schooler dressed up for some sort of school play. I would have started laughing were it not the intense, murderous gaze she was throwing at me.

I reached to my hips and drew my Glocks, taking aim… wait. Where are my Glocks!? I felt around in my coat for my precious guns, not finding them I reached to my back for my Mossberg, only to find it too was gone. I knew my buckler was gone, and without it I couldn't manifest my shield. I was too damn tired, the amount of exertion I had experienced in the last few days had taken its toll. I couldn't only channel so much power over a period of time, and I was just about at my limit. I couldn't even summon the energy to cancel my fatigue.

In short, over a span of two seconds I realized I had been neutered of almost every weapon at my disposal.

Except one, I still had my claw, and if I was conscious I had enough energy to summon that. With a tensing of muscle my Cat's Claw extended from my right arm. It was a collection of five blades that slid over each of my fingers, each at least half a foot long. Portions were articulated so I could still bend my fingers, and the knuckles could only bend so much, so that when I formed a fist I wouldn't cut my palm. The entire thing was brilliantly designed and very sturdy, enhanced by my special touch as well.

I assumed a ready combat stance, my opponents doing the same. When I suddenly dashed backwards, heading at Comet like a bullet. It made sense that he was the boss, if I could take him hostage I could probably get out of here with all of my blood. I punched him in the face with all of the power I could muster. Even in my drained state it was still enough to crack rock, much less a face.

What I wasn't expecting was the sensation of actually hitting rock. My fist crumpled against his iron jaw like it was made of Paper-Mache. The pain was unexpected, I admit that but not out right unbearable. I still let out a quick scream as I clutched my ruined hand. I stumbled back, not believing what just happened.

"I'll give you one last chance, accept my offer or die" Comet stated, very satisfied. He wore that menacing jackal grin again.

"No way, I was going to leave peacefully. But now you ambush me, threaten me, and break my hand" at that I waved my ruined left hand. "Now this is personal." I stated this with only a hint of rage and malice. Anger made you make mistakes, anyway when I refused I knew I would get ambushed. It's how things work in my business.

Mr. Blue decided now would be a good time to strike. He stretched a hand at my backside and unleashed a wave of cold that froze all the rain in its path. I leapt to the blue man's right with all the force I had. All three turned after my dashing figure. Halfway through my jump I dug my claw into the ground, and reversed my jump. I sped past the man when he was halfway through his turn, giving me the perfect chance to hamstring him, which I took. The man fell to the ground screaming as blood poured from the back of his knee.

The man's companion was fast, as she was already behind me when I skidded to a stop twenty feet away. I dashed forwards, sensing her attack. Halfway through my dash however I turned around to see she had already disappeared somewhere. I got my answer quickly when I felt a staff crush into the back of my head. Black spots of pain swarmed my vision as I started to slump forward. I turned around in my descent to see her wearing an ear to ear grin of triumph.

Her smile quickly turned into a look of surprise. When I planted my hand on the ground and swung my legs into hers, knocking her flat on her rear. I kipped up from my fall and landed a powerful knee into her gut. I felt more than a few organs shift, and I drove the wind from her lungs. Taking advantage of my foes current disability, I ran towards my bike. I was running on fumes and couldn't keep up this fight for another minute.

I had just got on my bike and started it when a knife seemed to sprout from my chest. I held down my scream, a hole in a lung is a pretty painful thing. I looked up to see Comet holding another knife, jackal grin and all.

I sneered at him, ripped out the knife and peeled out. At least it wasn't a boring night.

Comet wasn't pleased. Not only did he not have his assassin, but two of his best enforcers had been beaten in less than a minute, one of which was badly hurt.

He walked over to his bleeding ally, who was already receiving aid from his other enforcer. He was lying on the ground shaking from pain and blood loss. The girl looked up at him and said "I'm sorry boss, do you want us to go after him?"

Comet gave her a slight smirk and replied "No it's all right, the nearest hospital is forty minutes away, and with that wound he won't make it halfway." Comet laughed and sputtered out "He'll bleed to death within ten minutes."

Comet loaded his wounded companion into a van and started driving back home. On the way he started pondering replacement assassins, interspersed with the occasional daydream about that bastard slowly dying.

Two hours later, a stabbed and broken-handed man stumbled into a small ill kept apartment. I didn't even bother taking off my coat. I just collapsed into my bed and tried to let sleep take me. Expending the energy needed to not bleed to death had almost killed me ironically. As I lay there, half asleep I reached up and placed my hand onto my knife wound, and then my eyes fell on my ruined hand.

In the morning I'll see about getting those guys who did this to me. But my best weapon is surprise, so I'm going to need an edge if I'm going to kill them, not just hurt them like last time. And why did Comet want them dead? A way to solve both problems came to me moments before sleep finally found me.


	2. Meet the titans

"Hey Robin, we might have a problem."

It was Mid December in Jump City. Winter tended to put a damper on the type of crime they stop, so they took the chance to fully relax. Cyborg and BeastBoy were relaxing in the lounge playing Halo 2. Robin was down in the evidence room doing filing (hey not everyone was relaxing) Raven was of course meditating, Starfire was enjoying the fallen snow outside. It was a calm day until one of the many bells and whistles the tower has started going off. Cyborg had paused to check the sensors, much to the lament of BeastBoy. Upon seeing the approaching biker he immediately radioed Robin.

"What the? Who the hell is that?"

"What's up Cy?"

"Someone's driving up to the tower on a motorcycle"

"Really" BeastBoy bounded up to the monitor as Cyborg focused in the camera

The figure on the bike was a kid wearing a trench coat. He barely looked old enough to drive.

"It's probably just someone who needs to deliver something, like an off duty UPS guy or a telegram or something" BeastBoy casually said, flopping back down on the couch.

"I don't know man, I'm going to go check it out"

"Cyborg you there?" Robin's voice came over Cyborg's communicator

"Yeah Robin, you got anything you want us to do?"

"You and BeastBoy head down to the entrance, if there is any trouble call for backup"

"Gotcha man"

Two weeks had passed since my confrontation with Mr. Comet, my wounds had long since healed and I was feeling more than up to snuff.

As I drove up to the tower on my Harley I could help but feel a little intimidated. I mean, that tower could be seen anywhere in the whole city, shouldn't the Titans have chosen a place a little less blatant. I mean everyone knew the J.L.A.'s tower was in space but at least it was hard to get to. Not like this tower, anyone could just walk right up to the thing. There better be a welcoming party for me when I get there, because if I caught them unaware just driving up I would turn around and leave them to their fate. If that was the casethese people may need a few members to get assassinated as a wake up call.

But I was distracting myself, how the hell do you tell someone that you've been hired to kill them, but refused to do it and are now here to help you track them down. Maybe I should be direct, no sense pussyfooting around the issue. I was still thinking about this when I parked my bike 20 yards from the tower. I was still thinking these things when I started walking towards the base of the tower. And I was still thinking these things when a Tamaranian in snow gear darted in front of me andyelled "Hello new stranger!".

I was caught off guard, and fell flat in the snow. I was so focused on my thoughts that I hadn't seen nor sensed her coming. As I lay there, still wondering what happened, she crouched down and cooed "Oh, I am sorry if I startled you mysterious stranger." I looked up at her, and saw that she truly meant no harm. I stumbled to my feet, brushing snow off of my coat. I muttered " It's quite all right, Miss…"

"Starfire"

"Miss Starfire then, it is fine. I am not damaged. No harm at all"

"Joy of Joys! I would be most upset if my greeting caused any harm to your person"

"You and me both. Say do you live here?" gesturing towards the tower.

"Why yes I do. Tell me why do you come to visit my home?"

I figured that telling her what I was doing here was a good start, she seemed like she wouldn't attack the moment I said "assassinate". "Well Ms. Starfi"

"Please just Starfire will do, no need for formalities"

"Very well, if that is what you desire. Well Starfire, two weeks ago I was asked by a group of men to assassinate the titans, BUT I DIDN'T TAKE THE JOB!"

The last part was said very hastily. I was expecting some form of offensive maneuver, but she just sat there with the smile on her face she had there from the moment I met her. I decided to continue my tale.

"Those people were not happy with my decision, and decided to attack me. In doing so they caused me a large amount of undue pain."

At that point the eyes of joy she had quickly turned to a gaze of sympathy. "Ohhh, bad men have hurt my new friend. I know! I shall give you the aid of medicine to stop your hurt!" At that she started dragging me towards the tower.

"No, Starfire I'm fine now, that was two weeks ago I'm all right!" I gasped as she dragged me towards the front of the tower.

"Are you certain?" She stopped dragging me towards the tower and turned around to regard me with her sympathetic eyes.

"Yes I am, but whatever is wrong with me isn't important, the point is that the Titans may be in danger."

A minute later the doors to Titans Tower opened and in strolled a snow covered Tamaranian, and a dour looking human. Cyborg and BeastBoy had been waiting in the atrium of the tower to see this new visitor. I saw them standing at the ready just inside the tower. I knew nothing of the Titans so the sight was very odd. A 6'8" mostly metal black man and a green elf kid that couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds wasn't what I was expecting.

Starfire stepped forward and said "Friends fear not, I have spoken with this newcomer and discovered his purpose for traveling to our lovely home."

Cyborg raised a flesh eyebrow and said "Oh, and that would be?"

"He has been asked by a man named Mr. Comet to come and assassinate the Titans" Starfire proudly stated.

I waited four seconds for her to continue, but she just stood there smiling proudly. Apparently that was one second too long, as Cyborg quickly shifted his arm to his sonic cannon, and fired it right into my chest. The only reason my ribs didn't shatter was because it was set on stun. The blast still had enough force to knock me back forty feet into a snow drift.

BeastBoy, without missing a beat, turned into a bull and rushed the snow drift. I had regained my sensed by then, and hence saw him coming. Not wanting to hurt the creature, as it ran at me I simply grabbed his horns and pretty much stopped him dead. We grinded for a few seconds before I shifted tactics and pulled the creature towards me, flipping him over top of me suplexing him into the ground on his back. I flipped up, mad as hell. I looked back at the green bull, and saw it shift into a raptor. I gaped for a second before a titanium fist slammed into my dropped jaw, sending me flying another twenty feet.

I was actually a little happy for the distance between us. It let me bring my guns to bear. I drew one of my Glocks and my buckler. Flicking the safety on the gun and strapping the buckler to my arm, this was promptly covered in a blue energy field. I sighted my Glock onto the metal man.

"Oh no you don't, this is our house, and nobody killing anybody today" Cyborg hissed through clenched teeth, converting his arm back into the sonic cannon. BeastBoy morphed back into his elf form. He looked up to his large comrade, and said "You want to give this guy the T-Rex Takedown?" Cyborg smirked and replied "sure, why not?".

Cyborg in the blink of an eye jumped onto BeastBoy's shoulders, who transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with a metal man standing on his head.

The dual charge of the two would have made lesser men soil themselves, but I was still mesmerized at the appearance of the extinct dinosaur. How the hell do you fight a T-Rex?

I didn't have long to ponder the question as the two closed the distance quickly. Cyborg sighted in his sonic cannon…

This was the only opening I needed. I dropped my gun a readied my buckler. When he fired I intercepted the small shield between the blast and myself. A normal shield would have offered no help against the shot, and most shields that could havewithstood the impact wouldonly havestopped the blast. But this one absorbed, and reflected the blast. Not at the robot but rather the dinosaur, specifically his knee. The impact caused the beast to stumble forward, falling flat on its face. The act of doing so hurled Cyborg forward…

…and right into my waiting claw. With the combined force of him impacting the blade and my forward dash I sheared off his right arm at the elbow. The arm flew into the air landing in my outstretched palm, still in sonic cannon mode. Cyborg got a face full of snow from his headlong dive. The near unconscious mountain of a beast converted back to BeastBoy and stood up, ready to fight again. Behind me I heard the newly made amputee Cyborg rising. Apparently both still had some fight in them. That's fine, I have more than enough for everyone.

The fight probably would have continued, had Starfire not swooped in at that moment and screamed "STOP! He did not come here to fight, he turned down the assassination request!"

A moment passed while the two heroes processed this revelation.

Cyborg spoke first "SAY WHAT!"

"Dude! That's not possible, he attacked us!"

"You shot first" was my reply as I pointed at the two heroes.

"I am sorry I did not speak earlier, I had a, how you say, out-pouring of foul gasses from my gray matter."

"WHAT" both male heroes replied at once.

"She means a brain fart"

"Oh, yeah well how do we know you didn't lie to Starfire?!"

"Because your both still breathing."

"Oh, yeah like you really had the chance to kill either of us" BeastBoy replied sarcastically

"When you flew past me I could have removed your head, and when Mr. Defy-the-laws-of-physics over here" gesturing at BeastBoy "was near unconscious I could have removed his head too" Iadded atwiddling my fingers at the end of my statement, and when my claws are out they make an unsettling metallic tinkling noise when I do that.

I retracted my claws, making BeastBoy jump in fact at the sound they made, and retrieved my gun. "If you guys want to know more about the contract on your lives we can work together, if not I'll look up the guys and deal with them on my own." I wiped the snow from my Glock and holstered it. I'll need to clean it before I fire it again.

Cyborg watched me do this. He glanced at the other two titans present. They nodded and Cyborg turned on his communicator. "Hey Robin, we got a visitor."

"So this is our visitor" Robin stated flatly.

The three titans brought their guest up to the lounge after they let Robin know, and their guest secured his bike.

Robin gazed at the new body in the tower, wearing a look that said he was unimpressed that you could tell was there despite the eye mask. And why shouldn't he be impressed, the creature before him didn't look at all special. He wore a black trench coat, dark blue jeans and a black shirt with a dragon on it coiled around a gold ring. His hair was a brown so dark that it was almost black, he wore it long and tied into a ponytail. The kid didn't even look like he was in shape, a decent sized gut hung from his midsection, and he wore glasses. Nothing about this kid betrayed the fact that he was a superhero.

"And he beat the tar out of you guys?" Robin said almost quizzically. Like he didn't really understand what had happened.

"Hey, talk to the stump" Cyborg said, waving his nonexistent right arm.

"Yeah, he did man" BeastBoy said, he sounded depressed at that fact.

Robin felt the need to chuckle, but suppressed it. Laughing at his teammates wasn't a good way to neither build team loyalty nor make this stranger see his team in a professional light.

I detected Robin's urge to laugh, it was a good thing. I had built my whole appearance around being unassuming, surprise can be the best weapon in anyone's arsenal. That and somebody being beaten by what looks like an out of shape civilian added insult to injury.

"Now, Starfire has told me about some sort of assassination plot against the Titans" Robin adopted a very serious tone, any threat against his team was met with the utmost seriousness.

"Yes, two weeks ago is where it all began….." and so I told the events of that night

Robin wanted every possible detail I had. Comet had been good at keeping me from finding out too much. But I still told him everything I knew. The entire story took three hours.

The whole time Robin sat there absorbing every detail. The only noise he made was occasionally asking me to clarify a point or go deeper into a detail.

After all was said and done Robin nodded his head, and said "Thank you very much for your help, if you want anything I'll gladly help you."

"There's only one thing I want, I'm not able to take down those guys by myself and since you're going to do it anyway I want to help."

His eyes narrowed in a glare that was oddly harsh. I did not shrink from it. The boy wonder said "how can I trust you. This all might be a trick."

I replied "I'm not looking for trust, I'm just hoping we can work together on this. These people hurt me, and I'm not taking that lying down."

Robin just continued to glare at me.

I sighed, "Listen if you have any way you can verify what I want I'll gladly under-go it. Polygraph, Truth Serum, you name it."

"All right, we have both. Follow me."

I dejectedly followed him. I hated having to jump through hoops, but if this is what it took to get the help I needed…

Robin led me to some sort of medical wing of the tower. There he and Cyborg attached a multitude of wires and diodes to my body. I had so many on me it was hard to see.

"Now this isn't any normal polygraph, it monitors everything so that you cannot lie even in the slightest" Robin said while tightening a strap on my arm.

"If you say so" I could probably beat this thing, but I was trying to garner trust, so I decided to tell the truth.

Robin raised an eyebrow at my nonchalance, and stuck a needle in my arm. "This chemical will make you want to tell the truth and unable to lie. Not even Batman could trick this thing"

My confidence fell. If he was telling the truth I was boned.

"Oh man, finally payback!" BeastBoy said rocking back and forth on the stool. "Time for some embarassing questions!" BeastBoy rubbed his hands together with a grin.

"This tool is for research, to see if we can work alongside him or not, it is not a toy for your perverse amusement..." Robin pondered for a second and finished "...okay maybe a little perverse joy."

I simpered

"All right let's start this. Okay question one: Why have you come to our tower?"

"The exact reason I gave you earlier. A group of metahumans wants you all dead, they tried to hire me and when I refused they attacked. So now I want vengeance."

"Fair enough, okay question two: Where were these men when they asked you?'

"At the docks in Cleveland, it was raining that night."

"Question three: Why did you fight my teammates?"

"They attacked me, I was defending myself... That and I wanted to test them."

"Test them? Please clarify, why?."

I really didn't want to tell him that I was testing his companions, this was going to get awkward. "I wanted to see what their abilities were. If they weren't good enough I was going to try and get Comet on my own. For what it's worth you two passed."

BeastBoy and Cyborg looked offended.

"Allright,question number five: How long have you had your powers?"

"Since I was four years old"

"Wow that's quite the while, allright final question: do you have a police record?"

"No"

I could hear the machine spike at that last answer. I winced and looked up at my interrogators.

Robin glanced down at the computer screen and narrowed his eyes. "I think these results answer that question."

Robin turned about and started walking out of the room. As he did so he said "I'm done, ask him anything else you want while he's tied down like this."

BeastBoy and Cyborg grinned at me evilly. I tugged at my restraints, to no avail."So, ever..."

Two hours later I dejectedly shambled into the main lounge, my hand on my face pondering about what just happened. Following on my heels were BeastBoy and Cyborg, both still laughing so hard they could barely breath.

"Oh man, when you asked him about that Johnny Depp thing, that was priceless!"

"But not as good as when you asked him about that thing with the balloon and the donkey."

"Oh man I remember thatl, he told us his head jerked up and he said..."

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" they both screamed this at the same time and collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles.

My face was a beet red with both embarassment and anger. I inhaled about to go on a rant to end all rants...

"that won't do any good" a cool voice said from behind me.

I whipped around to see a pale ghost of a woman in a blue cloak with the hood pulled up obscuring her face save her eyes and mouth. "They get like this all the time, the best thing to do is wait it out"

I just stood there mouth agape before I realized it was my turn to talk. "Oh yes 'ahem' thank you, miss..."

"Raven" she extended a hand in a greeting "Robin told me we had a new body in the tower."

"That would be me, and I must say it's a" I was interrupted when both Cyborg and BeastBoysaid in a dreamy, sing songy voice; "_ Oh, Johnny Depp_"

I whirled about, ready to shed some blood when my watch alarm went off. I glared furiously at it, pointed at the two misfits and shouted "Your lucky I have to go feed my cats!"

"CATS!" Starfire yelled as she swooped in out of nowhere. "You are in possession of adorable felines!?"

Taken aback by her sudden appearance I stammered out "Uh, yeah. They are out in my bike."

Starfire gasped and said "But it is cold out there! Come we must rescue the felines from their frigid environment!" And before I knew what happened she was dragging me outside through one of the lounge windows.

Five minutes later Starfire was joyfully playing with my two housecats. Watching them frolic about in the snow was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.

The larger one was an almost pureblood Russian Blue. She was big for a cat, at her last checkup she weighed twenty-two pounds. She was the dignified, almost regal one. Even when she played it was with pride.

The other was a tiny cat, a mixture of dozens of breeds but if I had to say, I would say he was a javanese. At the last weigh in he was only eight pounds. This one was a true cut up, he was always trying to play with something.

I was cleaning out the carriers that the animals were in for the last five hours. It was good for them to get the chance to play with someone once in a while.

I was finishing up when Starfire floated over, a cat on each shoulder. She bubbled out "Your cats are most entertaining, tell me, what are their names?"

I closed up the saddlebags saying "They don't have any names."

"What how can that be, how do you call them."

"I don't know how it works, but they know to respond. Watch, hey cat."

The russian blue on Starfire's shoulder lifted it's head. "See, our system works."

"No, No, No. A pet needs a name." Starfire practically pleaded with me.

"Allright Starfire, how about you name them"

Starfire lit up even more at that, if such a thing was even possible. "Truly I may assign a vernacular to the adorable felines!"

"Truly Starfire" I gave her my warmest smile

I was promptly enveloped in a bone crushing hug, cutting off all ability to breath.

It took Starfire a full thirty seconds to realize I was blacking out. She promptly let go, thank god for little miracles. "Oh I am sorry new friend, I did not mean to damage you!"

"No I'm fine Starfire, really." That was a lie, but I didn't want to make her feel bad.

Starfire helped me up and said. "I must inquire, what is your vernacular. Calling you stranger and friend will not do."

I pondered the strange alien in front of me, and told her "Reaver"

"Very well then Reaver, come the felines seem cold."

"Allright, hey Starfire where did Robin get to? I didn't see him in the lounge."

"He spoke of needing to speak to his mentor about something, though the reason escapes me."

"Oh, hey Starfire you go on ahead I want to park my bike somewhere under cover. I don't want to have to dig it out in the morning."

"Very well" she let out an enormous yawn "I am tired, I will see you in the morning Reaver"

"Good night Starfire". I parked my bike under an awning near the entrance and covered it in a tarp. I then quickly whipped out a cell phone and called a rarely used number.

"Hello Bruce, I need a favor."


	3. To avenge the blood of the innocent

"Come in Batman, this in Robin. Come in Batman."

Robin sat in his room staring at a static covered computer monitor. He'd been trying to contact Batman all night, but to no avail. He was considering calling the mansion line. At least then he could leave a message with Alfred.

A moment later the screen crackled to life. The unmistakeable caped and cowled form of Batman appeared on the screen. "This is Batman. Hello Robin, what seems to be the problem."

Robin let out a sigh of relief. "What took you so long?"

"I was handling a Killer Croc breakout. Now what's the problem."

"This new guy showed up on my doorstop. I'll spare you the details of how. Wears a trenchcoat, uses a Krueger-like claw, rides a harley."

Batman narrowed his eyes and said "Yeah I know about him, his name's Reaver. He's sort of new to the whole superhero job. He's trained himself for a long time before he started his career. Last I heard he was working as a mercenary."

"Is that everything?"

"Not quite. He's good, very good. He has no problems with hurting people when he fights. Nothing major, drawing blood, breaking bones that sort of thing."

"Any idea where he gets his powers?"

"I believe they are magical in origin. The specific type of magic I have no idea."

It always unsettled Robin whenever Batman said he had no idea about something. "If that's all then so long Batman." "Goodbye Robin."

Robin flipped off the monitor, sat down and begun to think.

* * *

Next morning, at precisely 6:17 AM the alarm went off. It was a sunday. 

The various Titans filed into the lounge in stages of grogginess. Cyborg just looked tired, while Starfire had a wicked case of bed head and was still wearing her Hello Kitty pajama top. BeastBoy had presumably slept through the alarm as he was not present. Raven's cloak was only half strapped on, and she fiddled with it. I was clad in a wife beater and sweat pants, though I still wore my trench coat. There was still sleep in my eyes however andI was sporting a five o'clock shadowRobin's appearance was as immaculately perfect as ever except only half of his face was shaved.

The only completely coherent one was typing away into the computer and within moments various camera angles of several costumed villains were up on the computer screen. "It's a silent alarm. Whoever they arethey're assaulting a Wayne Enterprises building, TITANS GO!

At the Titans battle cry nobody moved. It looked like Cyborg and Raven had fallen asleep and Starfire was halfway there. Meanwhile I had no idea what was going on.

Robin sighed and walked over to the window, opened it and grabbed handfuls of snow. He formed them into snowballs and promptly began pelting us with them.

"Ack, thbbpt What's your deal man!" Cyborg shouted while he scraped snow out of his fleshy eye.

"Yes Robin what is your reason for pelting us with frozen droplets of rain?" Starfire said as she wiped snow out of her unkempt hair.

"It woke you up, didn't it? Cyborg grab BeastBoy on your way to the T-Car. Starfire your with me. TITANS, GO!

"Wait wait wait WAIT!" I said trying to bring attention to myself. "What about me, what should I do?"

"Come with us if you want, but stay out of our way." At that Robin was gone out the window.

I turned to Cyborg, shrugged.

"Shotgun!"

* * *

I didn't get shotgun. 

I sat in the back next to a very groggy BeastBoy, scowling at the scary girl in the front seat.

"I mean I have a shotgun so why don't I get the shotgun seat! It only makes sense!" I said this while I loaded my sawed-off Mossberg.

"First of all: You have to be able to see the car before you can call shotgun. Second: Why are you bringing that thing? You could hurt someone."

BeastBoy edged in his seat away from me and said "Yeah man, guns kill you should have left that thing at home!"

"Don't worry I'm loading it up with bean-bag rounds. They just feel like a really hard punch." I cocked my longarm.

"Okay, well what about those pistols of yours?" BeastBoy whimpered

"Oh those, Time delayed explosive hollow points. The cause horrendous damage to flesh, it's terrible."

BeastBoy paled. Raven gave me a look that could have frozen mercury.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Here this is what I'm using." I slid a bullet out of the clip and showed them. "See I'm using rubber bullets, won't hurt anybody." I finished loading my Glocks.

"Don't joke about that" Raven snarled.

I took up a serious face. "Allright, my apologies Miss Raven. I shant let it happen again." I settled into my seat.

BeastBoy regained some color to his face and stammered out. "Um, you d-don't really own exploding bullets right?"

I raised an eybrow "Your gun-shy aren't you BeastBoy?"

BeastBoy turned his head away quickly.

A minute passed.

I sighed "Listen if it will make you feel better, I'll try not to use my guns, alright BeastBoy."

BeastBoy whispered a barely audiblereply "thanks"

The rest of the trip was completely silent save the hum of cars engine.

* * *

Robin stepped off of his bike and looked at the enormous Wayan Enterprises tower. He checked his comlink, the alarms were saying the break in was on the 18th floor. He looked up at the flying alien above him and commanded "Starfire fly up to 18th floor and look for any activity. Report back as soon as there is anything to report." 

A moment later the T-Car cruised to a halt in front of Robin. The three other Titans and a tag-along hopped out. Cyborg approached Robin and said "Any news?"

"I sent Starfire to scout out the floor the alarm was tripped on, she should be back momentarily. Like clockwork Starfire promptly floated down from above. "Robin, there is no activity on that floor, they must be higher up."

"Or they moved down, we need a scout. BeastBoy, proceed up the tower and as soon as you find anything report back."

"Sir yes Sir" BeastBoy saluted and darted to the front gates. I stopped him and said "Wait he'll need backup."

Robin raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "Um Reaver, you don't look built for stealth, you sure that is wise?."

"Not me Robin, them" I snapped my fingers and called out "Yo cats" and from the seemingly nowhere my loyal felines appeared."

"You..." I said pointing at the russian blue, but I trailed off. "Hey Starfire, did you name these two yet?"

"Oh yes I have" with a clap and a cute little hop. "The large one I called Vortucal It means 'pride of a warrior'and the small one is Harra'k which means 'love of life'. Most glorious names I should say!"

"And it fits them too. Vorucal follow BeastBoy and cover his back. Harra'k stay alert and do whatever BeastBoy tells you too. That alright with you BeastBoy?"

For a moment BeastBoy looked confused and then murmured "Uhhh... sure" He then morphed intoraccoon and ran into the tower.

The other three Titans were at a loss of words. Raven spoke first "How the hell did you train those cats to respond to tactical commands?"

"Yeah man, I mean damn. I couldn't even train my cat not to pee in my shoes when I was a kid."

I shrugged and said "I guess I'm lucky."

* * *

BeastBoy, still in the form of a raccoon, crept along the 17th floor accompanied by the now named cats Vortucal and Harra'k. The last several floors had been cleared quickly, all of them in less than ten minutess. The eighteenth floor was the one that was supposed to have had the alarm go off so everyone was on high alert, even the cats. 

As BeastBoy crept along the hallway he realized this floor was an office floor, didn't look like much could be stolen here. As he crept along the felines maintained a vigil over him. BeastBoy shifted into rabbit form and focused on his now very sensitive ears.

He heard breathing, and a clicking.

He followed the noise warily, finding that it led him to a corner office. He turned back into an elf and tried to open it, only to find the door locked. BeastBoy pondered for a moment, then decided to be ghetto about it. He morphed into a donkey and mule-kicked the door open. Rushing in BeastBoy found a small box on the desk that seemed to be letting out the breathing noise. Approaching the box, he saw thatthe display read 'NOISE DETECTORS ACTIVATED 00:05

a moment later it read 00:04

BeastBoy's eyes widened, taking stock of the situation quickly he darted back into the hall.

00:03

BeastBoy dashed towards the window at the end of the hall tranforming into a bull along the way.

00:02

He rammed the glass, only to find it break into a spider web, rather than shatter. It was safety glass.

00:01

BeastBoy morphed into a gorilla, and smashed his way through the glass, he began to free fall just as

00:00

* * *

We were waiting on baited breath for BeastBoy's return or any real sign of what was going on up there. 

Little did we know it would be an explosion.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!! Fire erupted out from the building like as if a portal to hell had opened over our heads. The concussion shattered almost every single window for two blocks. The building began to pitch dangerously to the side as support beams melted under the hellish blast. And through the terrible blaze I saw him...

His arms were held out parallel to the ground as if he were crucified a wall of fire. I leapt up into the inferno and grabbed him draping my trenchcoat over his form to protect from the flames. BeastBoy had passed out, his body covered in burns. The meat of his back and undersides of his arms was exposed. I glanced back at the others.

The titans had already leapt into action. Raven was stabilising the toppling building by encasing the blaze in obsidian energy. Robin was already on the horn to the fire department. Starfire blocked falling debris with well aimed starbolts. Only Cyborg seemed to not be doing anything.

"CYBORG!" I bellowed over the fire and the ringing in my ears. The metal man heard me and ran over, splashing in puddles of melted snow. "Reaver, you hurt man? You look pretty badly burned you get hit with some debris." I looked at him quizzically and finally noticed the burning on my own cheeks. "No Cyborg, help him." I pointed a BeastBoy. Cyborg looked down and, his face went aghast.

"OH CRAP! RAVEN WE NEED YOU!" Cyborg yelled at the woman overhead. "I'm a little busy Cyborg" Raven hissed through clenched teeth. "RAVEN, BB IS HURT REAL BAD!" Raven turned her head to see the mutilated changeling, her face mirrored Cyborg's. In a flash of power she reattached the beam she'd been holding and floated over. Within a second she was healing him with a grey glowing hand.

The flesh began to knit, but she could only do so much. When she was done the burns were reduced from mortal to only life threatening.

Raven was panting "That's all I can do. I'm sorry."

"It's allright Rae, he has a chance now."

And that's when it all went down the crapper.

* * *

Star Sapphire was not happy. 

She had been asked by, a 'private investor' to steal some mass driver devicefrom Wayne Enterprises. Fortunately they had planned out the theft ahead of time. They acquired blue prints of building so they knew exactly where the mass driver was held, in the basment. So they decided to lay a trap for Jump City's defenders.

They set up a bomb on one of the higher floors that was activated by noise. Thirty pounds of semtek were wired to that bomb, far more than enough to kill any of those teenagers.

You're probably wondering why Star Sapphire is unhappy. Well it's because they felt the shockwave in the sewers much earlier than was anticipated. They were only three-hundred feet from under the tower when it had gone off, the punks would find them within ten minutes.

"Shade, Cheetah, Copperhead come with me. You" She pointed at her lead goon. "Keep moving the driver. We'll come back after we've bought you enough time to get away."

She turned turned to her super powered cohorts "Follow me"

She led them back through the sewers, through a manhole in an adjacent street to the fire.

Walking through the alleyways, they approached the fiery beacon.

Cheetah purred "I'll take the red-haired one" and bounded up a fire escape to reach a better angle of attack.

Shade stepped up next to Star Sapphire,"The goth girl is mine"

Copperhead glared balefully at the Boy Wonder

That left one, the robot. She got ready to attack but saw an additional figure, a young man in a trenchcoat. "Hmmm, this should be fun as she readied the powers of her gem.

* * *

We now return you to your regularly scheduled beating of my ass. 

I sensed the attack at the last possible second, attempting a dodge but to no avail. Dark red energy slammed into my torso knocking me into a street lamp, bending it considerably.

Cyborg fared no better his energy tendril slamming him up and into the fires of the building.

I shook my head and looked at my assailant. It was a woman, a very attractive woman clad in a magenta and black outfit. She wore a mask that hung low on her face and mader her eyes look like white triangles. Midnight black hair tumbled out the back of her mask. Lastly there was a large gem set into her masklow on her foreheadthat still crackled with energy.

I extended my claw and powered my buckler as I staggered to my feet.

"Oh good, your still alive" the vile woman said as she floated to a position ten feet off the ground. She lanced out with maroon energy, striking at my face. I raised my buckler and blocked the blast, reflecting it at her torso. She rolled out of the way and turned back at me, at look of venom on her perfect features. She flashed another tendril of power at me, I raised my shield to block... but the energy split, coiled around my arm, and zapped me in the chest. I felt the electricity scorch my torso, making my ribs burn. In an instant the pain was gone and I was staring daggers at my adversary. Star Sapphire smiled and began shooting energy like a machine gun.

The Titans were in no better shape. Robin artfully fought Copperhead. The snake struck with his tail knocking Robin to the ground. Copperhead tried to leap on top of him but was met with a newly extended staff to the gut for his efforts, knocking him back. Robin rolled to his feet and took a defensive combat stance. Copperhead came in hissing. Robin stabbed out with his staff, only to have it blocked by a scaled forearm. The Boy Wonder realized his opposite side was now exposed and punched out to drive the poisonous villain away. Copperhead rolled with the punch, and sunk his fangs into Robin's outstretched fist. Robin recoiled shaking his hand to try and drive away the burning numbness, but to no avail. Within moments Robin's left arm was completely numb and unable to move. Copperhead licked his lips and readied for another attack.

Raven was throwing everything that was available, only to have it sucked into an inky black void by Shade's nightstick. Shade seemed to be almost lazy about doing so, he casually swung his cane like he was strolling in the park with a catchy tune in his head.Within moments Raven had exhausted her arsenal. Shade tipped his hat and casually said "Oh miss, I believe you dropped this." And with swing of his cane, helaunched everything had absorbed back at the goth girl. Raven gasped and braced herself whilesummoning a force field as fast as she could. Her shield was up, but it wasn't fortified. The shield held for a moment before it fell under the sheer force of the assault. A moment was all that was needed however as Raven was only clipped on her shoulder rather than turned into paste. With a growl she redoubled her efforts.

Moments after the fight began Cheetah leapt, landing on Starfire's back. The Tamaranian was wrestling with a far more agile foe and couldn't bring her starbolts to bear. All the while Cheetah tore and scratched at Starfire's person. After several seconds of this treatment Starfire held still and gathered all of her energy. Her eyes glowed, her hands burned, and she exploded with green power. A pillar of green energy formed, for a moment outshining the light of the burning tower. Cheetah was hurled onto a fire escape, groaning in pain, clutching her scorched fur. Starfire drifted down to the ground, exhausted and injured.

And BeastBoy, well, BeastBoy laid on the ground quite unconscious.

The flash of Starfire's power distracted my adversary for a moment, granting me a reprieve from the constant shots. I took this chance, dashing in and leaping up to her figure. She turned her head back at me one second too late, as I grabbed her neck and upturned her head so she could not bring her gem to bear. I drove my knee into her gut repeatedly, driving the wind out of her and bruising some organs. After six such blows I swung around her back and slammed my elbow into the base of her neck, forcing her into the puddles below. I placed my arm against her neck and my claw against the base of her spine, in that position I held her face under the newly melted snow. She struggled, butit did no good. She felt the claw on her back, so she knew that if she struggled too hard she would paralyze herself. After a moment her struggles ceased and the bubbles stopped, I rolled her over to keep her from dying...

And got a faceful of magenta energy. The force launched me back into an unmelted snow drift. Star Sapphire floated up looking quite angry. I was dazed, and thus helpless to stop her as eldritch energy built up in her power gem for one final blast. I limply raised my shield as a meager defense...

And a starbolt bounced off of it and into Star Sapphire. She reeled from the attack, losing the charged energy as she lost concentration. A recovering Starfire floated up next to me, hand glowing with power. I rose to my feet, channeling energy to negate the worst of my wounds and my fatigue. The magenta villain took stock of the situation, and promptly zipped away as fast as she could.

"Come we must stop her!" cried Starfire as she grabbed my arm and streaked after the woman.

* * *

Cyborg was pissed. 

Not the type of pissed that you get when someone takes the last soda AND slice of pizza, or even the kind of pissed you get when you get mugged on the way to the bank to deposit your paycheck. No this was the kind of anger that drove people to murder. The kind of anger that you feel when someone you care for is being threatened for no good reason. This was Uber-Pissed.

Cyborg had been getting this way from the second he was knocked into the burning building, and was covered in scorching debris. For the last minute he was trying to force the debris off of him, but a second ago he had an epiphany, why not blast it off of him with his Sonic Cannon.

The reason he didn't think of this sooner was because he was angry. Anger clouds your judgement, narrow your focus. In his furious state he forgot that the building was structurally unstable, he forgot that such a blast would more than likely collapse the building.

So he fired his cannon.

In a second the pile was off of him, but the sudden shock had damaged a major support beam, the beam that a minute ago had been fixed by a rush job by Raven.

And so the building began to tip.

It was a gradual thing. Without that beam it would take a little bit for the building to topple as it leaned and more weight was put where there was no support beam.

Cyborg did not notice the tipping as he leaped out of the structure, and onto Copperhead.

The venomous-villain (oh god, i can't believe I just wrote that) was toying with Robin. Playing with him, forcing him to exert himself so the poison would spread. He probably would have sped things up if he knew a 500 pound pile of metal was going to land on him.

Cyborg, even in his state of rage, had enough sense to land so he did not kill the man. Oh sure he cracked some ribs, but he would live.

"Cyborg, your ok! Thank god" Robin said as he reached out to pat his friend and instantly recoiled.

Cyborg looked half dead. Most of his body was scorched black and other parts were scratched and gouged. His fleshy parts were all burned. All of his metal parts were very hot to the touch. Steam rose from the puddles he stood in.

"How are things out here?" Cyborg grunted

"Only Shade is left" Robin said as he snapped out a birdarang.

Robin hurled the projectile at the distracted Shade. His fight with Raven had been grueling thus far, so all of his attention was focused on her as he met her obsidian power with his own inky darkness.

It took him a moment to even register that his cane had been snapped in half from out of nowhere. He didn't even have time to form a thought about it before a titanium knuckle slammed him in his nose. Shade dropped like a sack of hammers.

"You know I just about had him" Raven droned

"Your welcome."

Robin retrieved his birdarang, and glanced around "Hey, where's Starfire?"

* * *

Star Sapphire flew down street after street attempting to lose us, but in her drained state she lacked the speed.

Which is what I was thinking right up until we rounded an alleyway corner and didn't see her.

"Where has she gone?" Starfire set me down and then landed herself.

"I don't know Starfire, be careful" I drew my claw and buckler. Starfire powered up a pair of starbolts.

I proceeded down the alley on foot while Starfire went up high. I listened for every possible sound. I heard a very slight droning whine. A sound I knew.

I raised my buckler above my head and deflected a concentrated laser of energy. It bored into a nearby building, carving a deep trench in the brick.

"She is on the roof" Starfire realized and flew up to meet our adversary.

My approach was much slower as I jumped from building side to building side to reach the top. I arrived to see the two of them facing off. Starfire threw a salvo of starbolts but Star Sapphireraised a shield to block them all.

Starfire made a mistake. She was still exhausted from her fight with Cheetah, and that last flurry of starbolts had pretty much drained her of everything she had left.

I heard that droning whine, my eyes widened but I couldn't shout a warning in time. The maroon energy flashed out and into Starfire.

Time seemed to slow. I saw the grin on the vile woman's face. The pained look on Starfire's. Both illuminated in maroon with by the beam of power that burrowed into Starfire. Before I knew what was happening Starfire was falling, and I was catching her. I didn't remember moving.

She had a quarter sized hole burned through into her collarbone, and all the way through to the other side. Looking at it I could see the gravel snow underneath her. She had blacked out from pain, lucky her.

At that moment the only thing I could hear or sense or anything, at that moment all that I knew was a slight chuckling. A chortle, the type of laughter one might make when they saw a funny bit on TV that they had seen before.

'Awww, your not going to cry now are you?" The woman mocked. She heard me breathing heavy and thought I was sobbing.

I wasn't, I was breathing heavy because of an entirely different emotion, Fury. Very few people have felt Fury, true Fury. Those who have are often broken by it, even though they only felt it for a second. Mothers who had children who were raped and murdered felt Fury, those who have been tortured felt Fury.

I had felt Fury before, and I was in control of it.

I calmly pulled out my pistol and fired a shot right between her eyes.

* * *

The rest of the Titans had gathered and secured the villains. The fires were being put out, and Raven had fixed the structural problems with the building. BeastBoy was getting fixed up by paramedics.

The Titans save BeastBoy were giving the police their statement when she felt it.

Raven staggered, suffering an instant migraine. She put her hands to her head.

She felt anger, no not just anger. Something more primal and powerful, but controlled. Like a wild lion that had been tamed, commandable on the surface but still wild at it's roots.

Without a word Raven started to fly towards the cause.

* * *

The bullet struck the center of the gem, knocking it out of it's setting. The artifact flew out and rolled to a stop a little bit from my feet. I leaned down and picked it up.

Star Sapphire fingered the indent in her mask where the gem should be. Holding the gem Iturned towards her and crushed it in my hands. The dust flowed away into the wind.

"Alright you win claw-man. I surrender" Star Sapphire raised her hands in a sign of obeisance. I made no reaction, at least not one she could see. My hair had come undone and the locks obscured my face.

I started to walk towards her, I slid out the clip and replaced it with a new one, full of armor piercing rounds.

"Hey I surrendered, call the cops and bring me in" she almost pleaded.

"I try to be good." She looked confused. "I try to be the hero. Save the innocent, protect those who need it, defend justice. Everything a hero should be." I calmly strode towards her. "But people like you try to stop me from doing so"

"hey calm down" She rose to her feet "there's no ne-" She was cut off by a bullet going through her thigh. She collapsed with a scream "AHHHH, YOU BASTARD! YOU FU-" "SHUTUP!" I cut her off with a powerful shout.

I regained my calm tone "The sadistic, the psychotic, the evil. You try to stop me for the worst reasons. No big cause, no truth to justify it. Just your own whims and desires. You make me forget what it is I want. You cloud my vision and make me do things."

The woman wore a look of terror. I was fairly certain she peed herself in fear. "The only thing you people understand is power. Well right now I have the power here. Do you understand that?" She was too petrified to reply. "Look at you, five minutes ago you were laughing it up, bursting with power." I reached her and placed my claws on her throat. She offered no resistance. "Now you are pathetic. A waste, trash. If you take anything away from this experience, take that. The knowledge that in the end you have no power. You. Are. Nothing." She vaguely nodded. "Good" I rose and turned away from her. The sun was rising. Star Sapphire held her breath.

"Yes take that knowledge with you, that" I turned back. And in the growing light of dawn she saw her better's eyes, she gasped at the sight. "And... this"

I dashed back at her, slashing upwards with my claw.

Oh how she howled.


	4. The blood of the guilty must flow

Raven stopped.

Shehad been following the flare of emotion to it's source. Such a powerful emotion was like finding a lighthouse.

But the emotion was suddenly gone, like it had been snuffed out like a candle.

Emotions can't do that. There were always residual feelings, there should have been a fading phase. Not even she was that good at driving down her emotions.

Then her communicator buzzed.

* * *

I was fiddling around with Starfire's communicator for a few seconds before I found out how to use it. "Hello is anyone there?" I got some static before I got a response. "Reaver?" A voice droned. Raven. 

"Raven listen I got Star Sapphire, and Starfire is hurt I needsomeone here pronto."

Raven replied "I'm closest, I'll be there in a minute"

Sure enough Raven was present and accounted for a minute later.

* * *

The place Reaver was at was exactly where Raven was headed. She saw the wounded Starfire moments before she touched down. Within a second her hand was glowing gray, healing the wounded Tamaranian. 

"What happened?" I pointed at Star Sapphire, "She happened".

Raven was just about done healing Starfire when she finally saw her. Star Sapphire was laying against the retaining wall further down the roof. When Raven was done she walked over to her.

The woman's entire front was covered in blood. She held her face in her hands, and blood was seeping through her fingers. The worst part was that she was crying. Not writhing in pain, not screaming, just quietly weeping.

Raven removed a small canteen from her belt and approached the fallen villain. Raven softly said "Ok, come on let me see..." She started to pull away the woman's crimson hands, what she saw made her gasp.

The woman's mask had been pulled off, showing that her entire face was a dark red save streaks where her tears had washed away the blood. The blood came from three deep cuts. One was at a diagonal streak between her eyes that started near her jawbone and ended at the top of her forehead. The upper most cut had dug into her cheekbone and curved up along her head, showing the white of her skull. Lastly the final cut had split both her lips and cut a few front teeth. The slash tore into her other cheekbone. Her eyes were left untouched. Star Sapphire quietly mewled "It hurts..."

It was bad, but nothing Raven couldn't handle. She started glowing her hand, but found that the wounds wouldn't close, or do anything. She felt something was blocking her.

Raven snapped her head over to me. "REAVER!" She was over by me in a flash. "What did you do?"

I was taken aback. "Whoa, what did I do?"

"You know what you did. I can't heal her face"

"Oh, that"

"What do you mean 'Oh that'! Fix it, undo your effect!"

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"Because she doesn't deseve it."

"You are not the judge of that"

"Aren't I? When she hit Starfire she was aiming for her head, the only reason she's alive is because Starfire tried to dodge."

"that isn't relevant to my question"

"Ahh, but it is, it proves that she deserves no more mercy, not from me or anyone."

"You are not the judge of that!"

"Right now I am! Right now I am the judge of that. And I judge her not worthy"

"Your as bad as she is! A superhero wouldn't have cut her like that in the first place"

"What would you have done Raven?"

That stopped her in her tracks.

"Huh Raven, what would you have done? Knocked her out? Thrown her around? WHAT RAVEN!? WHAT!

She was silent for a good long while. The only noise was the weeping of a broken woman.

I huffed and walked over to the woman. She recoiled at my approach. I grabbed her head and reverse slashed with my claw, dragging the blunt side along her wounds, breaking my own curse.

I gathered up Starfire. I turned to Raven and huffed "Heal her, and while you do it think about what you would have done? Try not to lie." I hopped down to the street.

And all was silent.

* * *

Five minutes later I carried the still unconscious Starfire to the site of the battle. 

"Reaver, where the hell have you been?" Robin asked.

"Star Sapphire ran off. Starfire and me went to get her. She got hurt but Raven fixed her up though"

Cyborg yawned "Let's go home man, I'm beat"

"Yeah alright." Robin slipped out his communicator. "Hey Raven we heading home. You want a pickup?"

"No Robin, I'll get there on my own"

"Alright. Well the police have this in hand, let's go."

We slipped BeastBoy into the back of the T-car all bandaged up for the ride home next to an unconscious Starfire. I finally got shotgun

We rode back in silence.

* * *

Back at Titans Tower twenty minutes ago. 

A dark-cloaked figure slipped into the tower. He turned towardsa nearby computer panel and within a few seconds had erased all memory of the intruder alarm going off, as well as shutting down the security system, he looked around the place, smirked and started getting ready.

* * *

We arrived back at the tower ten minutes later. Robin hot on our tail. 

I sensed something wrong within seconds of parking. There was another presence nearby someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

"Wait, something's up. Someone is here." I shot out my claw.

"What, dude your paranoid. If there was an intruder then I would know about it." Cyborg tapped his metal skull.

"Still, I think we should check it out, just to be safe."

Cyborg glanced at Robin, Robin narrowed his eyes "alright, Cyborg stay here. Come on Reaver let's go."

I drew my Mossberg and cocked it.As I got closer to the tower I could sense it even clearer. Someone was definitely here, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

I entered the front of the tower first, followed closely by Robin.

Robin was ready, his staff was out and he was alert. He felt a light tickling on his shirt but ignored it.

I continued forward until I was halfway into the atrium. I knew there was someone nearby (who wasn't Robin) but I couldn't place it. It was maddening.

Suddenly the light tickling on Robin's shirt became a fierce tugging as he was suddenly lifted into the air by his throat. He now saw tiny gossamer wires as he looked up, the wires leading to a man stuck on the wall grinning like a only a psycho can.

* * *

Cyborg was sitting in his car in the garage, listening to some music when Starfire began to stir. 

"Oh hey girl, you feeling okay."

Starfire nodded and stretched, tugging at the leftover wound in her chest causing her to wince.

"Whoa there easy, you took quite the hit there"

Starfire half opened her eyes, and said "where are the others?"

* * *

One of the others was currently being strangledto death. 

It took alot of effort but Robin was able to choke out a garbled noise.

That was all it took. I turned around to see Robins suspended ten feet in the air with a very thin wire which led to a man positioned on the wall above the doorway. I cocked my gun and took aim.

The man leapt like a grasshopper on steroids. Flying forty feet horizontally before landing in front of the stairs leading up to the rest of the tower. He turned around and flashed me a psycho grin before dashing up the steps. I was hot in pursuit.

Meanwhile Robin hung from the wire like a fish in a line.

* * *

Raven had been thinking. And that was a bad thing to do during meditation. 

Raven floated a few feet above the surface of Titans Tower. The cold wind whipped at her hair and cloak.

It was alright, she didn't even feel such things, so deep was her meditative trance.

Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azarath, Metrion, Zinthas.

She stopped. She had fumbled the last word of her mantra. She sighed, this was a testament to how much Reaver's words had impacted her.

Would she have acted differently than he?

She floated down to the front of the tower. She had to find Reaver and set things right.

* * *

Cyborg and Starfire were taking BeastBoy to the infirmary. After Starfire woke up she demanded that BeastBoy be treated immediately. 

So Cyborg carried BeastBoy to the lift that would take them to the infirmary.

Moments after they arrived Cyborg was working on BeastBoy. Attaching wires, a feeding tube, applying salves, changing bandages, using a catheter. Within five minutes BeastBoy was ready for a good long hospital stay.

* * *

I was busy chasing this intruder up the steps. Well I shouldn't say up the steps, in the stairwell was more appropriate. 

He and I leapt between the empty space between the stairwells. Overtaking several floors per jump.

I perched on the railing to the 28th floor and fired with my Mossberg. The cloaked man leapt out of the way, widening the gap between us.

I cursed and followed after him. Taking another shot on the 35th and 42nd floors. I was down to one more shot and we were near the top. At the 50th floor I took one last shot and pegged him. The impact knocking him back into the empty space. He fell past me a second later, and I dove after him.

I straightened my body into an arrow and gained on his figure, his flapping cloak slowing his descent. I tackled him in midair, attempting to subdue him in a flurry of punches and kicks. He blocked or twisted out of the way of several strikes, but I made contact with a few.

He managed to plant a foot on my chest and kick me up above him. I saw him reach for a coil on his hip and he then lashed it at me. His whip bit deep into my flesh, scoring my body with several cuts. He pulled back for a poweful strike but rather than hit me he lashed at one of the walls, wrapping his whip around a handrail.

He stopped in midair, and I collided with him and grabbed at his form snagging ahold of his cloak.

"Who are you?!" I snarled

He simply threw me his psycho grin, and said "Me, I'm Death's Apprentice"

At that he kicked my face knocking me off and sending me back into my freefall.

* * *

Raven arrived at the entrance to see a hanging Robin. 

She slashed out black energy and cut the cord holding him up. Robin wasn't breathing.

Raven wordlessly went to work using a combination of healing magic and telekinesis aided CPR.

Within a minute Robin was coughing and breathing in the sweet, sweet air.

"Robin what happened here?"

Robin struggled to his feet "A man in a red cloak, Reaver went after him. He ran into the tower."

Robin whipped out his communicator "Cyborg are you there?"

* * *

"Yeah man I'm here" Cyborg was checking BeastBoy's vitals while he spoke. 

"We have an intruder in the tower, Reaver is after him but we should regroup, where are you?"

"The infirmary, we just hooked up BeastBoy"

"Good stay there. We'll come to you. over and out."

"What is going on? Is there trouble?" Starfire said as she was bandaging herself.

"We got an intruder, stay here I'm going to keep watch in the hallway."

Cyborg turned on all the lights in the hallway, and put his sensors on full sweep. Nothing was going to sneak up on him.

A minute passed.

One of Cyborg's many instruments beeped. He glanced down at his arm and saw that his motion detector was getting movement fifteen meters away, and it said it was right in front of him and closing fast. He looked down the hallway and saw nothing. He looked back at the motion sensor and saw it was at ten meters now. He readied his sonic cannon and scanned the hall again. Five meters now.

four

three

two

And then Cyborg realized what was wrongwhen he looked at the corner of the screen.

He whirled around and fired, but he was too late.

Death's Apprentice was upon him. He rolled out of the way of the blast and came up right in front of cyborg, slashing with two knives and leaving deep gouges in the metal.

The reason Cyborg didn't see him was a simple mistake. A few weeks ago he had lost an arm to one of killer moth's little metal eating moths. And when he replaced the arm he accidently screwed up. He put the replacement screen in upside down. What tipped him off was the flipped Wayne Enterprises symbol. (Bet you thought I was going to rip off Aliens huh)

The cloaked man rolled back and frowned.

"heh, those toothpicks are gonna be enough to take me down chump. You need a bigger knife. Star! We got company!"

Starfire floated out of the infirmary, starbolts glowing.

The assassin grinned and then whipped out two handfuls of small throwing knives. He begun hurling them at the two.

"Star, behind me!" Cyborg raised his arms to defend himself and Starfire took cover behind the metal man.

The flurry of knives continued. A long series of tiny chinks were heard followed by two loud thwaps.

"huh, 'thwap'" Cyborg lowered his arms to find that there were two bricks of C4 attached to each of his arms.

"Oh sh-" but his explative was cut off by two jarring explosions.

Starfire peered her head over Cyborg to see him staring ashenfaced at his missing arms. Both were blasted off at the elbow.

Cyborg regained with composure quickly. His shoulders slid further from his torso, revealing a thin band of metal that was seeded with missile pods. Cyborg offered his best grin before all of them launched at the gaping assassin.

* * *

I continued my fall, perplexed. 

I had no idea how to stop myself. I saw that I was at the 17th floor, not far to go.

An epiphany came to me, it was risky to try, but far less risky than getting turned to pudding on the floor below.

I maneuvered my way over to the corner of the shaft. I extended my claw, and stabbed into the beam.

My claw dug deep, slowing me down considerably. My blade carved a fifty foot long furrow in the metal with a terrible ear aching screech. My entire arm was numb from the exercise.

I hung on the third floor, just grateful for the fact that I wasn't dead. I channeled energy into my arm to regain feeling and then yanked out my claw. I resumed my ascent, I had to make up for lost time.

* * *

Robin and Raven stood in the lift. The numbers on the elevator flashed by rapidly. They were closing in on their destination. 

All they could do was wait.

* * *

The assassin regained his composure and resumed hurling knives. Many impacted the missiles, causing them to veer off course or explode prematurely. 

Death's Apprentice wasn't perfect after all and several shots made it through. Missiles detonated on his figure spraying him in flame and shrapnel.

Cyborg and Starfire couldn't see their adversary, the smoke shield was too thick.

"Did you get him?" Starfire said, hands clasped below her neck.

"No I didn't"

The assassin staggered out of the smoke, obviously hurt. "Fools! I am death's replacement! He has taught me everything there is to know about what lies beyond!" his figure cleared the smoke, the two heroes gasped "And he has alsoshown me!"

Skin hung off of the man in loose flaps revealing gleaming metal prosthetics. His eye was revealed to be a silvery orb with no marks. His left leg bled a gold liquid where the skin was punctured.

"He's an android" Cyborg gasped. "Yes, he is like you!" Starfire replied

"NO! Not like him, I am better" At that he drew a knife and lunged at the pair.

Cyborg instinctively tried to bring up his arms forgetting that they were missing. His failed defense cost him as the android assassin stabbed his knife into the metal man's throat. Cyborg's eye rolled back into his head as he fell and his body ceased it's glowing.

"CYBORG! NO!" the tamaranian's eyes glowed, and produced beams of power that struck Death's Apprentice and drove him further down the hallway.

The alien girl did not let up. She hurled a near continuous flurry of rage powered starbolts at the far off figure. Withing seconds the entire hallway was filled with deep craters and melted patches.

Starfire panted, her fury released. Down the hallway a lone figure still stood, defying her. Starfire released a tamaranian battle cry and flew at the intruder as fast as she could.

The assassin almost casually dodged to the side, snapping out a whip and lashing it at the passing alien. Rather thanslash her however, heswung it so it would coil around her, doing so twice.

Starfire was about to snap the thing when Death's Apprentice tapped a buttion on the hilt of the whip, disconnecting the whip part, and then the whip exploded.

Well it didn't explode perse, rather it burned very quickly. The whip was in truth a length of det-cord, a rope typically used to set off other explosives. When det-cord goes off it burns at a very high temperature for less than a second. Fifty feet of det-cord wrapped around a two foot thick tree will cut it in half.

Luckily that isn't what happened with Starfire. Her natural Tamaranian heat resistance reducing the assured death merely to third degree burns on her arms, stomach, and back. Though that was still enough to take her down for the count.

And then the elevator opened right next to it all.

* * *

Okay 32nd floor here's where he got off, now where did the bastard go? 

I opened the door and ran into the hall in search of my quarry.

* * *

The elevator opened, and Robin saw the destruction. 

Starfire lay on the ground, her skin on her midriff and arms blackened. Cyborg lay further down the halllifeless and missing half of his limbs.

Robin saw him then. The Son of a Bitch who had broke into his tower, almost strangled him to death, damaged his hallway and severely wounded his teammates, in that order.

Robin lifted a fan of birdarangs and hurled them at the intruder. They buried themselves into his arms, he grinned, yanked them out and hurled them back.

Right before they impacted Robin's person all of them were encased in black energy, stopping them in midair. The assassin bore a strange look, and then they struck back at him three times as forceful. This time he had difficulty pulling them out.

"Pathetic children, DIE!" The evil man rushed in at Robin and slashed him with a knife. Robin parried the blow to the side and struck with a metal toed boot, only to hop back a moment later with numb leg.

Not missing a beat Robin produced a metal disk and threw it at the robo-assassin. In a temultuous explosion the assassin was hurled back and onto the floor. Raven encased the manin obsidian energy and lifted him close.

"Why are you here? Who sent you?" She tightened her grip.

Death's Apprentice's head lolled, and he said "Why, Death himself! He says it's your time!"

"Really, then why not come get us himself?"

"He's training me to take his place"

"Take his place? Death can retire?"

"But of course! Oops, I'm behind schedule. Bye now!"

At that the man snapped his arms and broke the hold Raven had on him. She didn't even get the chance to gasp before he grabbed her hair and slammed a titanium fist into her face. Raven groaned in pain, as Death's Apprentice repeatedly smashed her in the face. He would have continued were it not for the staff that struck him in the face, and sent him reeling.

Robin stepped up and looked down atRaven. It wasn't pretty. It looked like her nose was broken and she was missing a few teeth. She'd live though.

Robin couldn't say the same for this 'Death's Apprentice' however. He readied a fist full of exploding globes. The robo-assassin rose to his feet and growled out "look around you, do you truly believe you stand a chance. I've beaten every single one of your teammates hands down. What can you hope to do?"

Robin responded with a fistful of explosives. Once again the hall was filled with noise and fire as the assassin was assaulted. And once again he left the blaze unscathed, save the loss of more 'skin'.

Robin growled and once again reached into his belt for a weapon. Death's Apprentice didn't give him the chance, as he rushed forward and grabbed the Boy Wonder's wrist, and twisted.

From several feet away you could hear the bones snap. Robin recoiled as the anroid released his hand. Robin cradled his injured wrist.

"Do you see now little man, there is no possible thing you could do to stop me. Give up now and I'll make it quick." His tone was chummy, like he was asking a neighbor if he could borrow his lawnmower.

"N-Never!" Robin readied a disc with his one good hand.

"Such a wonderful thing; courage. People who have it are rare, but it is often so misfounded. Why fight the inevitable? My offer still stands."

"NO! Robin readied a throw.

And then the-would-be-executioners face exploded.

One of th man's eyes was now a ruined, leaking mess."WHO DARES!"

"I dare" I said as calmly as I could, and cocked my shotgun.

* * *

A week ago, Cleveland docks. 

A familiar figure, this time sans umbrella spoke a person in a red cloak.

"I'm willing to pay you this much for the job, upon completion. Of course expenses will be covered" It was less than a quarter of what he offered the last assassin.

The cloaked man nodded and said, "Who's the corpse?"

"CorpsES" with emphasis on the end. "I want you to kill the Teen Titans"

Both men grinned, one like a psycho and the other like a jackal.

* * *

I approached the psycho, and fired again. This time my explosive shell went off on his shoulder. 

I moved at a slow gait. Firing every four or so steps to maintain accuracy. The android raised his arms to guard himself, stumbling backwards in the process.

I quickly ran out of shells, so I drew my Glocks. I peppered him in armor piercing rounds, forming cracks in his metal body. Within seconds I was out of those too. Now I drew my claw and buckler.

The assassin robot dashed at me and struck out with a metal fists. Iparried with my buckler, his fist sliding off of the energy forcing him to over-extend himself and effectively dive right past me. He may as well have laid himself on a platter.

I cut downward with everything I had, biting into his side and driving him to the ground. I kicked the deviant like a football sending him flying twenty feet. When he landed he scrabbled further down the hall and around a corner. I strolled after him.

* * *

Things weren't going well for the Heir of Death. 

The children had done more to him than he led them to believe. He was at about fifty percent power when he broke the masked boy's wrist. Then those miscreant showed up. He was at about forty percent now, and his body was badly damaged. He thought this would be easy, especially after he set up an ambush in their own home. He'd waitedtwo days in water outside the tower, waiting for them to leave. When they had he set into action. But now the tide was turning against him.

That left only one option; ambush

He leapt up into the ceiling after he rounded the corner, not making a sound. He grinned at his own genius, his master would be pleased.

The clawed one walked under him, glancing left and right, no idea where he was.

The android attached another det-cord whip to his handle, this one shall burn.

* * *

I had no idea what I was doing. 

This tower was foreign territory to me, there could be secret passages he ran into. Or teleportation pads that he fled with, I was a nervous wreck.

I was almost relieved when a whip coiled around my left bicep. I whirled around to see my attacker, and sure enough there he was grinning, twenty feet away.

I rose my claw to cut the whip, and out of the corner of my eye he did something with the end.

That was when the pain hit.

It was a very sudden burn. Like setting your hand on a hot stove. Then I was falling... I didn't know why.

A second later I opened my eyes to see my arm, except it lay at an impossible angle. The fingers were facing down, but the forearm was parallel to my face. How did I twist my arm up like that?

I sat up and tried to rub my head, when no rub was forth-coming I looked down and realized.

My arm was gone from the mid-bicep down.

I pondered this development when I heard the laughing.

I turned back to see Death's Apprentice laughing like he was watching a funny stand up comic. A deep belly laugh.

"You fool! NOBODY BEATS DEATH! DEATH IS AN INEVITABILITY!"

I stood, channeling energy into my claw. I assumed a fighting stance, sans arm.

The laughter stopped "Still you fight? I commend you claw-man. Truly you are one-of-a-kind. But honestly, how do you intend to beat one who knows all the secrets of death?"

As coldly as I could I said "You know everything about death, then let me teach you about life." I charged "One; life throws you curve balls" He raised his arm to block, but I chopped through it. "Two; Life isn't fair" I punched him back into the air "Three; Life is short, ESPECIALLY YOURS!" I channeled a huge pulse of energy, so much it glowed with a blue light. I swung in a sideways arc, fingers pointed.

And from that swing five arc shaped blasts of energy were sent forth. They impacted the assassin's form and drove him back. The energy carried him back all the way to the outer edge of the tower, and through it.

The energy was still carrying the rapidly deteriating android a mile away, then two miles, then three before it dissipated and the ruined form fell hundreds of feet into the ocean below.

He still smiled the way only psychos can even as the waves took him.

* * *

I was panting. I was having difficulty forming coherent thoughts. 

Then I was falling again. Dammit all.

* * *

Unconsciousness is a funny thing. It's alot like time travel, except you can't decide where you go, when you will come out, or what you'll be doing when you stop and you can only go forward. So it's like time travel in disaster movies that involve time travel. 

This time I stopped after... aww hell I don't know. I was still groggy and afraid to open my eyes. My body was in intense pain, I was amazed I slept through such pain.

I started hearing voices.

"Man is he still out of it?"

"Yeah, hasn't moved in hours"

"Geez he looks messed up."

"Some of those are old wounds, but he is messed up. Rae, any luck"

"No, his body won't accept my healing. But I think he's doing it on his own. Like his body is fixing itself."

"Whoa that's freaky"

A new voice "Is our companion any better"

"Naw I think...e..s..fer.d...

And then I was out of it.

And I dreamed...

* * *

I woke with a start.

I heard a slight eep from my side. I turned to see a heavily bandaged Starfire holding a magazine.

I reached up and held my head, and saw my arm was still gone.

I sighed and turned to Starfire and limply waved.

She darted out of the room and I heard a shout "Friends! Friends! our unconscious companion wakes!"

I laid back down and closed my eyes.

When I opened them again I saw my bedside was surrounded. BeastBoy had anti-burn compresses all over him. Cyborg's previously streamlined arms were replaced with narrow ugly stand-ins. Raven was sporting several bandages all over her face and tow black eyes. Robin wore bandages in a hodge podge of places and a bulky wrist cast. Starfire was bandaged about the midriff and arms, she was still wearing her shoulder bandage from before.

I snickered and said "You all look like crap"

Laughs came from all around, even Raven.

"You look pretty bad yourself champ" Cyborg play punched me in my arm.

Robin smiled and said "Reaver, on behalf of the Teen Titans let me thank you. You saved all of us." Everyone nodded and smiled.

"And also on behalf of the Teen Titans, I would like to extend the invitation to join the team."

I thought it over, and smiled.


	5. Recovery and introspection

"I'll think it over" was my only reply.

The other Titans in the room looked confused for a second.

Robin nodded. "Hey could you guys give me and Reaver a minute. I have something private to speak to him about."

The remaining Titans filed out of the room. Robin closed the door and walked back to my bed. I started taking the bandage off of my stump.

"What are you doing! Don't take that off!" Robin grabbed my arm to stop.

"Robin relax. I'll be fine, look."

I channeled energy where my arm used to be, the bone protruded out of the skin, like it was just forming. Flesh began to crawl down the bone. As abruptly as it began it ended, the bone only half covered.

Robin was speechless.

I smirked "I can regenerate from nearly any damage. As long as I'm still alive I can probably fix myself." I shifted, and grunted in pain. "But it isn't without cost."

Robin looked up. I was panting heavily and lathered in sweat. I seemed on the verge of passing out.

"I can't make something from nothing. I need material to rebuild. Recovering from cuts and bruises is simple. But broken bones require calcium, and muscles need protein. A lost limb is going to be hard to do. I'll need to pull the material from the rest of my body, it's going to be painful."

Robin regained his serious face. "What can I do to help you?"

"Down in my bike, in one of the frontpouches there are some ziploc bags filled with powder. Bring them all, and a few pitchers of water."

Robin ran like a bat outta hell. A minute later he came back carrying several bags full of brown powder.

"All right now mix three cups of the stuff in the blue marked bag into a pitcher. Now mix five cups of the stuff in the red bag into another pitcher."

Robin proceeded, carefully measuring each ingredient.

When Robin was done he handed the pitchers to me, and I gulped them down. The liquid tasted foul and was gritty, but it was necessary. When I was done I resumed my panting.

"Allright Robin, mix up another pitcher of each and put them on the table."

Robin did so, and I then turned back to him. Robin said "What was in that stuff?"

"Protein powder, vitamins, minerals, everything I'll need to regain my arm. Now you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Oh, yes it's about your powers. Obviously you can regenerate, but what else can you do?"

"Straight to the point. Very well, I possess a very short range telekinesis. I can't manifest much control over objects, but I can maneuver my own body with pretty much a thought. As a result I can move quickly, strike with alot of force, and jump really high."

"Allright, what about that claw? What's the story with that? When we took off your coat and saw no apparatus or anything, where does it come from?

"From within." I drew my claw, and five scars disappeared from my arm, each scar was a foot long. "The blade resides in my arm, I can draw it whenever I desire." I retracted the claw, and the scars reappeared.

Robin noticed the scars fade and return. "On the topic of scars, you sure do have alot of them. Do they have anything to do with any other powers?"

I looked down at my body. I mentally traced the crisscrosses of scars and tattoos on my body. The scars were from a plethora of sources. Many were bullet wounds, others came from blades and gouges. Even more still were caused by burns and other forms of energy. Interspersed throughout these scars were tattoos, each one a rune or glyph of different colors. Some were tiny and simple, no more than a few slashes of paint and others were so intricate and largethey would take hours to trace with your eyes, much less a tattoo pencil. I must have been a horrific sight.

"In a way, it's hard to explain, and to be honest I wouldn't like to talk about it."

Robin rubbed his chin and nodded. "Very well that's enough for now. I'll leave you to heal." he glanced down at my arm, it had healed another inch since we began to talk.

Robin turned and left the room. I flipped on the TV and settled in.

* * *

My rest didn't last long. An hour later I had visitors.

"Hey man how are things going?" BeastBoy popped his head in. He was quickly followed by Cyborg.

"Hey dawg, Robin told us what it is your doing. Are you really regenerating a whole arm?"

I nodded and held up my stump. I was already to the elbow joint. I focused and sped things up for a moment, finishing up half the elbow in an instant. I was winded.

Both of them gaped. I smirked.

"DDUUUUDDE! That's SWEET!" BeastBoy cried.I nodded. It hadn't hurt that much that time, the powders were taking effect.

"Yeah man, how do you do that?" I shrugged, "I'm just magic I guess."

Cyborg switched gears and looked serious suddenly. "Hey man, listen we need to say something."

BeastBoy mimiced Cyborg's face. "Yeah, we just wanted to say thanks. Especially me."

I furrowed my brow in confusion and took a long drought from my pitcher.

BeastBoy crossed his arms and said "Cyborg told me about what you did, in the fire. How you saved me..."

I rocked my head back, and remembered. BeastBoy continued "If it wasn't for you I would've died. So, thanks."

I shrugged "No big deal, I'm sure Starfire would have caught you if I hadn't. I'm just sorry that I didn't do it sooner."

"No it is a big deal!" BeastBoy leapt to his feet "You saved my life! And, Idon'tknow what!AUGGHHH!" BeastBoy clamped his hands over his head and stormed out of the room.

Things were silent for a moment.

Cyborg was the first to speak. "Listen man, he's been through al-" I cut him off with a raised hand. "I understand Cyborg. I've been through everything he has and more. Right now he just needs some time."

Cyborg smiled and nodded. He rose to his feet, smiled at me and strolled out of the room.

A minute after he left I got out of bed and mixed up my drinks again.

* * *

Two hours later, all that remained was too regenerate my hand.

I was sporting a puffy new scar were the arm had been removed. The entire thing felt like pins and needles.

I was watching an old episode of Cheers when Raven walked in.

"Listen I've been building up to this, so just let me talk and get this done with." She sat down, I flipped off the TV.

A pause.

Raven sighed, and began. "I've been thinking alot about what you said, and it's been grating on me. What you did to Star Sapphire was not right, but not unjustified. In your situation I think I would have done the exact same thing, but I'm not sure I would have reversed it. Or exercised restraint like you did."

"Raven, I-"

"No let me finish, in realizing these things I've taken a good long look at myself, and realized I have a long way to go." She pulled down her hood revealing an immaculate face with a gemstone set in her brow. "There's an evil inside me Reaver, a powerful evil that desperately wants to be free and hurt alot of people. I can fight it and hold it down but I find it harder and harder all the time." She shivered "When I was near the fire, I felt a powerful Fury. An anger that seemed so intense I thought for a moment that my father had finally broken free." She paused for a breath, "That was you wasn't it Reaver?"

I glanced away and nodded.

"I thought so. The Fury was gone instantly, as if it had never been there. When I arrived a minute later, I saw nothing that I was expecting. Just a wounded Tamaranian, a clawed woman, and you. I was expecting a slaughter, blood running freely in the street, chaos and pandemonium. I found it hard to believe that someone could have so much restraint, the ability to hold back on such a powerful feeling, rather than give in to it."

Raven slid her hood back on. "You've impressed me Reaver. Rather than suppress your emotions you use them to your benefit. You fight with a passion, a purpose. Seeing you this way has made me realize that maybe I should do the same. Not fear the power behind my emotions, but use it and give in to it. So I guess I'm trying to say, thank you. Thank you for showing me another path. It will take a long time but someday I hope to be able to feel."

Raven rose to her feet. "I've taken up too much of your time, I should be going." Raven started to leave the room.

"Raven, wait" I stopped her at the doorway, she looked back. "I look forward to seeing you smile." I gave her a warm grin.

Raven half smirked "I do to Reaver, I do to..."

* * *

And so that left one.

I sensed her peeking around the doorjam. When I glanced over she darted back.

I flipped off the TV. Sighed, rubbed my eyes, and said "Starfire, you can come in."

"Hee Hee. I am found." I heard her say. "Very wellwe will come in now" She strolled through the door holding two familiar fuzzballs and a white thing.

"Vortucal! Harra'k! Your alive!" Starfire place the felines and the white thing on my bed. The cats crawled under my covers with a small meow. I eyed the white blob on my bed. "Uhh, Starfire. What is this?"

"This" She gathered up the creature "is my bumgorf, Silkie" She hugged the small little larva, which squeled in appreciation.

She rocked Silkie in her still bandaged arms. "Yes, upon further investigation of the sight of the blaze I found the adorable felines, both undamaged. A most glorious miracle!"

"Indeed" I scratched Vorucal "I can't thank you enough Starfire"

"Please, it was my pleasure. Afterall it is the least I could do after you saved me from the Star Sapphire."

"Still thank you very much Starfire. Harra'k scratched at something under my blanket, when I grabbed him to see what it was I saw the Titan communicator Robin gave me. I grabbed it and pulled it out.

"Have you thought at all about our offer? We would like it greatly if you accepted."

I set the communicator down on the table. "I don't know Starfire. It's a big step, and I don't know if I can handle it. Is it always this intense?"

"Not always. You, how do you say, caught us at a bad time."

"Be that as it may, there are other things to consider. Sure I can fight, but I don't know if I'm a good enough person to be on a superhero team. I've hurt people Starfire, lot's of people. I mean up until two weeks ago I was taking up assassination contracts! I just don't know if-" I was interrupted by an orange hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see Starfire's sweet and innocent face. "I think you could be a great person Reaver." I could tell she meant it.

I put my now full regenerated hand on her shoulder. "Thank you Starfire. That means alot coming from you." I rolled out of bed and slipped on my shirt.

"Where are you going?"

I put on my trenchcoat. "To find Robin. I have an offer to accept."


	6. Moving day

Apparently the beginning stages of being a Titan aren't as glamorous as I once thought.

Upon my acceptance of Robin's offer he threw several dozens of forms and contracts at me. I had spent the latter half of the day filling out forms. God I hate Bureacracy.

"Allright, now sign here, and here, initial here, and your done."

I was relieved, if I had to sign one more thing I was going to do it with my claw. "Your sure, I'm totally done."

Robin flipped through some papers and nodded. "Looks like, your all set. We just need to mail these and we will be all done."

"You better not be jerking me around here Robin. ARE YOU SURE? I don't have to fill out anything else. No contracts, waivers, no pet license thing, no thing else?"

"I'm sure."

"Thank god" I got up to leave.

"Oh wait. One more thing" My claw almost instincively released. "I just need your real name signed here."

"Wait wait wait, my REAL name? What about a secret identity, I value my privacy."

Robin scowled. "C'mon, even I had to sign my real name. Trust me these documents are secure, nobody will find out your name. They're being stored deep in the bowls of the tower, hardly anybody goes down there."

I thought it over for a second. "very well, but turn around."

Robin sighed and did so. I signed my name and folded the paper.

Robin took the paper, sealed it in an envelope and tossed it in a folder. "That's it, you are now Reaver, the Teen Titan."

* * *

That night pizza was ordered, lot's of it. 

Around 8:00 Cyborg wandered in holding thirteen, count them thirteen large pizzas. "Allright boys and girls, DIG IN!" Cyborg laid out the titanic meal on the coffee table. I was mesmerized at the sheer size of the meal. We all piled our plates high but before even one bite was taken Robin stood up and tapped a spoon against his glass of coke.

"Attention, ATTENTION!" Cyborg had to flick BeastBoy to make him stop drooling over his tofu pizza. "Tonight we eat to celebrate the newest Titan, Reaver! The man who sacrifice his own arm to ensure our safety. HEAR HEAR!" All the Titans save myself rose their glasses and cried "HEAR HEAR!" I smiled weakly and rubbed the back of my head with my 'new' arm.

"yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around. Now let's eat!" and at that the Titans dug in... or they would have had Cyborg not stood up.

"Hey, while we're announcing stuff I got something ya'll need to hear. Our tab down at Pizza Hut is getting mighty high, we need to pay some of it off before we can do this again, so ante up!"

All the Titans reached into pockets pull out whatever bills they had. Cyborg flipped out a compartment on his leg. BeastBoy rifled in his pockets and pulled out a small stack of change, and smiled weakly at the scowls everyone gave him. Raven produced a tiny purse from somewhere and withdrew a fistful of bills. Starfire laid down some bizarre silvery-gold coins before Robin leaned over and whispered something in her ear, she quickly replaced the coins with a twenty.

I flipped open my wallet grabbed two bills, threw them down and returned to my pizza.

BeastBoy's eyes bugged out. He grabbed the bills I tossed down. "DUDE, you just threw down TWO-HUNDRED DOLLARS!" Cyborg looked down, grabbed the bills, and handed them back to me. "There's no reason to go broke over pizza dawg, twenty bucks should be fine." I waved his hand off.

"Don't worry, two hundred isn't going to break me. Anyway I'm not carrying any twenties. All I got is hundreds."

"Wait there's more?! Dude how did you get so rich!?" BeastBoy was near frantic.

I set down my pizza and calmly explained. "BeastBoy, I have been acting as a mercenary for the last five years. During that time I have made 32.7 million dollars, I've hardly spent any of it and it's been sitting in a bank at a very high interest rate. My checking account balance is nine digits long."

The Titans were stunned. I silently ate my pizza.

"Dude Reaver, can I borrow twenty bucks?" Cyborg shoved the requestingBeastBoy out of the way and flashed me a joyous grin.

While I was getting swamped with requests for money, Robin sat across from me, very deep in thought.

* * *

The next morning bright and early, Cyborg, Raven and myself rode out of the city in the T-Car. A U-haul wagon dragging along behind us. I once again did not get shotgun. Raven said it was "senior Titan" priviledges, I said it was horsecrap. 

We were driving to Columbus to get my stuff, load it up, haul it back to the tower, and unload it into my new room. Which the other Titans were currently in the process of clearing out and cleaning it.

It was a five hour drive to my apartment in downtown New York. The entire trip was drowned out by music blaring from the speakers, it was pleasant.

Before I knew it we were at my old home. We parked on the street out front, I told Cyborg to lock the doors of his car.

The place was an old dilapidated thing, but it kept on trucking. My super was new and was trying desperately to get this place up to code. He was doing a good job with what he had to work with. The man built a small playground in a lot next to the building, nothing fancy. Mostly just swings and a few see-saws, I saw he had added a slide since I left. There were still kids playing on it in the snow.

I sighed and proceeded up the steps to the atrium. My apartment was on the top floor, the fourth. Proceeding upwards I heard one of my neighbors yelling in various languages. I smirked and continued up.

My apartment wasn't anything special. I didn't really have any decorations. Very functionable. One bedroom, one bath, linen closet, kitchen, and living room. Oh yeah and a balcony, though I rarely used it. As soon as I came in I checked my answering machine.

"You have thirteen new messages, message one" It was the voice of a gruff latino gentleman I knew as Mike"Hello, man? Pick up, pick up . I got a job for you. That Italian bastard I had you take carof has some friends and I need you t-" I frantically hit the 'erase button' on the machine and looked up at my companions, they looked horrified.

I smiled weakly and ripped the plug out of the wall. "Um that was Mike, my uhh 'agent'." I'll just be calling him back if you'll excuse me" I stepped out into the hall and whipped out my cell phone. Both of them turned towards me, I rolled my eyes and said "I didn't kill him!" I slammed the door shut.

Now granted some privacy I dialed Mike's number, and got the gruff spanish manI was looking for. "Hello Mike I-"

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" I recoiled at the sudden noise from my cell. "I NEEDED YOU YESTERDAY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" I calmed Mike down a bit before continuing. "Listen Mike, I got something I need to tell you. I'm getting out of this business. I quit." Mike then proceeded to dump several swear words in my ear before I could calm him down again. "Mike be rational, no stop swearing, now stop yelling, good."

"Haven't I always been there for you?"

"Yes, except the last two days"

"Who was it who took your daughter to prom when her boyfriend dumped her?"

"You"

"Who was it who then beat the hell out of her ex-boyfriend for dumping her, free of charge?"

"You"

"And who was it who loaned you that money to pay off your gambling debts, and hasn't mentioned it up until now?"

"You" this time Mike sounded alot more dejected.

"That's right me, now do this one thing for me. Get some of your other men to do these things for you."

"But none of them are as good as you!" Mike whined.

"Yes I realize that, sorry Mike. I'm in a new line of work. I've joined the Teen Titans."

That made Mike laugh. "Sigh, allright man. You take care, I'll see you on the news."

"You take care too Mike, and tell your daughter Maria I'll miss her"

And before he could yell at me I had hung up with a smile on my face.

* * *

Within the hour we were on the road again. Moving went alot faster when you had a powerful metal man and a telekinetic helping out. That and my almost total lack of possessions sped things up. 

This time around there was conversation.

"Musashi was the greatest swordsman japan had ever seen, and Japan had seen quite a few."

"Yeah but Genghis Khanconquered almost all of asia in a single lifetime."

"Being a king doesn't make someone a good warrior"

"It depends on your definition of warrior"

Somehow or another the topic of the world's greatest warriors got brought up, and Cyborg and Raven got in an argument over who was better. Cyborg favored Miyamoto Musashi, quite possibly the greatest samurai that the world ever saw. Raven favored Genghis Khan, the mongolian overlord who conquered almost all of Asia.

"Your both wrong, the greatest warrior of all time is me" I said pointing at myself, snickering.

"SHUTUP REAVER!" They both shouted at the same time and promptly returned to their argument.

"A warrior is somebody who fights, someone who is right there in the thick of battle. Someone who fights his enemy himself." Cyborg proudly stated.

"No, that's a soldier. A warrior is someone who can take control, somebody with leadership abilities and tactical sense. Someone who not only can fight themself but also knows how to tell others to fight."

"Anyone can do that. I'm sure Musashi could have, he just wasn't in a position to do so. Anyone can learn strategy, Swordplay is an art."

"Leadership and strategy aren't simple things to learn, really good strategists are born with tactical sense. People like Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar didn't learn how to lead, it was natural. Now swordplay is easy to learn."

"Oh you did not just say that!"

"I already did"

I quipped from the back "She did, I heard her say it"

"SHUTUP REAVER!" They both shouted.

I chuckled and laid back. The rest of the trip proceeded pretty much as such.

* * *

Two hours later I was unpacked and set up. The problem was I didn't have enough stuff. 

While each of the Titans hasroom, that is a misnomer. It was more like each Titan had their own wing. Each 'room' was actually a mainroom with four attached subrooms. The bedroom had an attached bath, the rest were free rooms that you can do anything with. For instance, one of Robin's rooms had some exercise equipment a treadmill, and one of Starfire's rooms was just filled with plants, many of which from Tamaran.

I barely had enough stuff for one room, much less five.

I was fine with using the one room, but unfortunately nobody else was

"Dude! how can you have so little stuff! Aren't you rich?" BeastBoy gestured at my bare walls.

"Yeah Reaver, this is pretty sad. I mean everything looks so drab. I mean, even Raven's room has some decorations."

I looked at my bedroom. I had a full sized bed with white sheets and an adjacent nightstand with a porcelain lamp. A 17 inch Television sat on a TV tray on the opposite wall next to a coatrack. Tucked away in the corner was a large metal tool chest next to a dresser and a full bookcase. I saw no problem.

Raven droned "Yeah Reaver, this is depressing even for me."

I looked offended. "I like to live simply allright, what's the problem."

Cyborg spoke up "there's a difference between living simply and like an inmate. If a burglar broke in here he would probably take a good look around and leave a twenty on the nightstand out of pity."

I crossed my arms. "Allright, I'm open to suggestions. Anyone got some ideas?"

Robin said "well, what would you like. Anything at all, go nuts, no matter what it is we'll help you get it."

I pondered for a second "A workshop would be nice... You know, to make bullets and clean my guns"

"Well that's a start. What will you need."

"Well a workbench, some tools, some chemicals..."

And so began a shopping spree to end all shopping sprees.

* * *

By 4:00 PM the next day my room was done. When the Titans are in your company, you can skip lines in stores.

Each of my companions had added their own touch to the decor. Cyborg had helped pick out my workbench for my new workshop. The cabinets and the storage lockers matched all matched. The metal man had also helped me acquire the tools and materials needed for gunsmithing, a hard thing to find.

Raven aided in the decoration of my new study. Solid oak bookshelves lined each wall, filled with books. The occasional macabre bookend leered from one of the shelves. Amarble reading table was placed next to a black velvet overstuffed chair with matching footstool. The entire place felt wonderfully gothic.

My bed and bath was now filled with plants. Starfire donated some extras to sprucing up my quarters, but I refused the alien ones. The tamaranian carefully instructed me on how to manage each plant, watering requirements, sunlight, that sort of thing. She almost fainted when Vortucal began sharpening her claws on a small tree. The sheets and curtains were now very festive shades of green and purple.

BeastBoy aided in the decorating of my main room. Since BeastBoy and I were the ones decorating it, and since neither of us were much for interior decoration, we just went on whims. I bought a new entertainment center with 80 inch plasma screen TV that I was fairly certain I would never be able to figure out. And since I got a new TV, I needed something to sit on so I got a new brown leather couch and a few chairs including a recliner. Just for fun we added a minifridge and desktop computer.

Robin was almost in same boat as BeastBoy and I. Robin didn't really have a favorite means of decorating, so he left that room up to me. I made it into a separate workroom.

After all was said and done I took off my coat, laid on my bed, and felt like I was home.


	7. Christmas day

Every year, the day before Christmas eve, the Titans would do this charity gig. Most of the Titans dressed up and did activities in the Santa's village section of the Downtown Mall. Robin and Starfire were dressed up like elves and handed out candy canes and other candies in front of Santa. Cyborg was dressed up like a Nutcracker and was running the play pen. BeastBoy was the petting zoo, morphing from Christmasy animal to the occasional cute and cuddly animal,my catswere there as well, wearing smallfestive collars to gowith the theme. Even Raven had set up a little story time corner where she read from a stack of Christmas stories. The dark girl wore not her black and blue outfit, but instead traded for a green cloak over a red leotard.

And me, I was on security detail. Well, not really, it just sounded better than chasing a purse snatcher.

The crook had grabbed the purse from an overladen heavy set woman. Her shout for help was almost totally drowned out by the din of a shopping mall before Christmas. The only one who heard her was me, luckily that was the only one who needed to.

The man was trying to lose any pursuit in the crowd, and would have too if it was anybody besides me, I could see him clear as day.

The man ducked into a holiday supply store and began rifling through the purse. I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh," He turned about "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry sir but I don't thing that belongs to you."

"What? Get out of here kid, keep your nose where it belongs." He raised a hand to push me away.

I grabbed his hand and applied pressure, just enough to drive him to his knees. The man gasped in pain, and I grabbed the purse from his hands. I let go and he fell back.

The man groaned and with a shout raised a foot at my groin. I once again caught the offending limb and, in a burst of energy, flipped him over me and slammed him into the ground behind me. He was out like a light, there was applause from all around. I glanced around at the cheering shoppers and blushed. I told the clerk to call security.

A minute later I found the robbed woman crying on a bench, her young children attempting to console her in vain.

"Maam, I believe this belongs to you" I handed the purse to her.

The woman looked up, tears streaking her face. "My purse! But, how?"

"Don't worry it was nothing." Within a second had enveloped me in a hug, repeatedly saying "Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!"

I returned the hug best I could, failing to wrap around the woman's bulk. "Your welcome maam." I pushed out of the hug. "Oh, god bless you sir. Everything I have is in this purse." I simpered and replied "Just be more careful. The holidays are a good time for people like purse snatchers and muggers." At that I fled before more pleasantries could be exchanged.

* * *

Five minutes later I was back at Santa's village sharing Robin's break with him. 

"Geez, there are more and more every year." Robin gazed at the throng of tiny children in front of us. I didn't respond.

Robin turned towards me. I was barely holding back laughter. Robin winced, "Fine get it over with." I burst out laughing at Robin's get up.

He wore red,and green striped stockings and sleeves. His spiky hair was hidden under a frilled, pointed hat that was tipped with a belljust like his curled green felt shoes.A puffy green, red, and yellow tunic covered his thin torso. Starfire was dressed identical. Both looked absolutely hysterical.

Within aminute my giggling fit had passed. Robin stared daggers at me. "Just you wait, next year you'll be wearing the same thing I am." I frowned at that.

"Do the Titans do this kind of stuff often? Like are we going to have an Arbor Day festival or a St. Patrick's day drinking contest?"

"Nah, we only do things like this for Christmas, New Years, July 4th, and Halloween."

"Speaking of Christmas, I'm not expected to get you guys anything right. If I am I could pick some stuff up, but I don't know what to get any of you."

"No your not expected to, but your going to get presents. I can promise you that."

I looked crestfallen. "Well I have to get you guys something now. It wouldn't be right otherwise. Robin I need your help."

Robin stood up "I'll see if Starfire minds taking over for a little bit" She didn't.

Robin changed into casual wear and we set off in search of gifts.

* * *

"Now BeastBoy is easy enough. He made a list, and made certain we each carried a copy at all times." He handed it too me, and I chose one thing to get him. "Cyborg's been wanting a new MP3 player. As for Starfire, just get her something adorable and she'll be happy. Raven's another story..." 

"Well what did you get her?"

"A card with fifty bucks in it."

"I'd rather actually get her something"

"Good luck."

We proceeded further along the mall, totally unaware we were being watched.

* * *

The midget figure of gizmo weaved in the crowd, tailing the spiky haired super hero. 

Gizmo spoke into his wrist communicator "Hey Mammoth, Jinx, guess what I found."

"What gizmo? You caught me at a bad time." Jinx said while she tried on new outfits in a Hot Topic.

"Yeah, this better be important, my food just got here." Mammoth slammed his tall tray of food down onto a table in the food court.

"No I'm calling just to say hi, I do so love our little chats, OF COURSE IT'S IMPORTANT! That Bird-brained loser Robin is here and he's by himself."

"No he's not, his teammates are doing some charity gig further down in the mall. I just passed by them." Jinx slipped her dress back on.

"Yeah, but their leader is by himself. We can take him down in one shot, and mop up the rest of the Teen Twits later."

Jinx sighed, "Allright Gizmo, where are they?"

"They're passing by the Pet Store now."

"Good they're close, gather outside the Auntie Anne's pretzels, then we'll strike"

* * *

"Maybe a book, what book would she like?" 

Robin and I had finished most of the shopping, all that was left was Raven's gift, and I still had no idea what I was going to get her.

"She does read alot, let's take a look." We stopped off in a Walden's books.

I asked a clerk what would be good, while Robin started browsing.

Robin was strolling through the 'horror' section, trying to find a book Raven hadn't read yet.

He didn't notice the tiny form and the petite figure stand on either side of the small aisleway he was standing in. He did notice the pink light lancing towards him from the right though. He started to dodge to the side but got clipped on the arm by the glowing energy, which pitched him backwards onto the business end of Gizmo's taser. Robin's muscles went limp and he fell forward smoking slightly, then the bookcase fell on him, crushing and pinning him to the ground.

Mammoth looked triumphant. "That was perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better way for that to go down." He stepped on the bookcase, warranting a groan of pain from the trapped Robin.

"Yeah, the scumsucker didn't even put up a fight. Let's finish him off and mop up his worthless friends." A laser rifle protruded from the midget's backpack, and then a copy of _War and Peace _struck him in the head, driving him into the wall.

"Hello boys and girl,that's my friend there, please get off of him."

"Who's gonna make us" Mammoth snorted, and ground Robin's face into the carpet.

"That wasn't a request." I extended my claw and charged my buckler.

Gizmo stood up, and started floating on a jetpack. "Who does this Freddy Krueger wannabe think he is?"

"Name's Reaver, I'll be your executioner today." and rushed at the three.

Mammoth intercepted my charge with a vicious uppercut that squarely struck my torso. I rode with the blow, and grabbed onto his fist and flipped over it. I now stood behind an unbalaced Mammoth, and with a twist and a pulse of energy threw him at the pink haired one. My massive missile flew over her form and smashed through the storefront, skidding to a halt at asmall copse of Christmas decorated trees. I smirked.

And a salvo of lasers struck at my back. I darted left and right frantically to avoid being full of holes. Gizmo was floating, and he was firing too much for me to get close. If only I hadn't left my guns at home the little monster would be cooked.

Jinx joined the assault, launching small powerful hex bolts at my dashing form. I rushed out into the mall proper and behind cover to get my bearings. I met a familiargiant.

The newly recovered Mammoth had thought it best to avoid the firefight, and stay clear of the near constant blasts of energy. I dashed out into a powerful bear hug from the enormous man. The air in my lungs was squeezed out. Mammoth chuckled. "You weren't much after all..."

I screamed and ripped my right arm out of his grasp and began fiercely cutting his face. Mammoth shouted in pain and let go of me. I ran between his legs.

A second later he turned his injured face on my figure. I hadn't put much power behind the strikes, and Mammoth's skin was tough so he had nothing worse than cat scratches, but it still hurt. The other two villains exited the ruined book store and stood a good distance from me. I assumed my fighting pose and motioned for them to come.

And come they did. Gizmo slid missile arrays out of his pack and fired a flurry of missiles at me. I channeled energy and weaved between the missiles. Mammoth slammed his titanic fists into the ground, creating a fissure in the floor big enough for me and a car to fall into. I dived off of the falling pieces, sliding along the falling and in between Mammoth's legs again, except this time I rose my foot into his groin. Mammoth fell to his knees in pain, and when he looked up he saw the missiles still flying after me. The resulting explosion completely obscured his form.

I slammed my palms into the ground and flew into the air, and descended onto a startled Jinx. She fired hexes at my descending form. I rose my shield to deflect them, and that is the exact moment I learned my shield can't deflect Fate magic.

One bolt absorbed into my shield, destroying the energy around it. The next also absorbed into my shield, making spiderweb cracks form all along it, and it shattered. The remaining eight hex bolts slammed into me.

I felt my momentum shift upwards as the sheer power of the hex drove me into the ceiling, I still had enough senseto slash out with my claw and flip myself onto a support beam. I took stock of my injuries. Cracked ribs, some internal bleeding, a minor concussion, nothing I couldn't handle. I focused energy and did a quicky regeneration on my ribs, brain, lungs, and spleen. At least it didn't hurt to breath anymore.

Gizmo protruded wings from his jetpack and flew halfway up to my perch, readying more missile pods. I leapt at the midget as fast as I could.

Gizmo panicked and struck a button on his control, producing a small tube from his pack, that then spewed fire at me. Once again I flew skyward from the sheer force of the blast. I finally had some luck when my flailing, flaming figure landed in a fountain.

I rose from the fountain, skin burnt, my trenchcoat lay in tatters, and my eyes were closed. Gizmo was laughing it up, "Now the crudchomper reallyDOESlook likeFreddy Krueger!" All three laughed at my ruinedform. I channeled energy into my eyes to make sure they were healed. I reached up and ripped off my coat, revealing my scarred and tattooed arms. All three silenced.

Wordlessly I was upon them in a blink of an eye. All three gasped, but were too slow to counter. I crouched down to Gizmo's level and met his beady little eyes. He met my gaze and was terrified. I grabbed the little man's leg and tossed him up to my eye level. Quicker than the eye could follow I worked him over with my claws. In the span of two seconds his body was covered in dozend of long, shallow cuts that hurt like hell. I dropped him to the floor where he writhed and moaned in pain. His two companions gaped at his form and then looked back up to me.

They met my eyes, and recoiled. Both nervously put up defenses. Mammoth put up his dukes and Jinx's hands glowed with pink energy. I twiddled my blood stained claws, making a wet metallic sound.

A standoff.

Suddenly both were struck by an outside force. Jinx was thrown back by a powerful starbolt, and Mammoth was struck in the face by a flurry of obsidian coatedbricks.

I turned to the see that the other Titans had finally showed up, ironically still decked out in christmas gear.

I smiled, my visage back to normal and leapt into the fray.

* * *

The fight barely lasted two minutes. Mammoth and Jinx were outnumbered and had lost their morale, it was a hands down victory. 

But it sure didn't feel like it. The police were called and Jinx and Mammoth were being carted away, looking very dejected. Gizmo was being loaded into an ambulance.

I sat outside leaning against a pillar, hugging my knees. Raven sat down next to me. Before she could speak I said "You felt it didn't you?"

Raven nodded "Yes I did."

"They didn't deserve it you know, especially Gizmo."

"Yes but they didn't not deserve it. What you did may have been excessive, but it's done more for their rehabilitation than a hundred years of prison would ever do. And you saved dozens of lives in the process, your a hero"

I cringed at that word."But I still shouldn't have done it. Every time I've done it before was for some cause. Aiding the innocent, saving a life, but this time it was solely self defence. No great cause or anything, it was only done for myself."

"That's not true, you saved Robin."

"But only after I got my ass handed to me. If it was for Robin, thenI would have done it when the bookcase fell on him."

Raven was silent.

"I'm going to apologize." I got up and walked over to the paddy wagon and looked inside.

Jinx and Mammoth looked up and gave me a look like a puppy that had just been kicked."

I smiled weakly and said "Listen I'm sorryI did that. It was wrong and I apologize. I hope someday you can forgive me."

Jinx spat, "You should apologize! To us and Gizmo! You'll be hearing from our lawyer!"

Mammoth added "Yeah man, what was up with what you did to Gizmo? That was vicious. Aren't you one of the good guys?"

I sighed. "I dunno, I'm working through some things right now."

Jinx shouted "Well don't take it out on us!"

I turned away, and walked to the Ambulance. Gizmo lay on a stretcher, partially sedated.

I looked down at his blood stained figure, he looked like an ten year oldkid who had smashed a ketchup bottle all over himself. "Gizmo, can you hear me. Gizmo?" The diminutive villain stirred and opened his eyes.

"Gizmo, I'm sorry for what I did. It was wrong." I'm not sure if he registered my words. "I've got all these feeling swirling around inside me right now. And when it all got loose you happened to be standing closest." I sighed "I've got to work through what I got right now. I've gone through a really big life style change, and it's causing alot of stress, and I took it out on you and yourfriendswhen I shouldn't have." I smirked "If we'd met a month earlier we probably would have been on the same side. So anyways I'm sorry, I hope someday you can forgive me."

I turned and left, Gizmo fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Two days later, Christmas day. 

It was a little after sunrise. BeastBoy and Starfire woke everyone up as early as was allowed. Glee was painted on their faces as they tore into the packages with abandon. I smiled in my robe and watched them.

Starfire got to my gift and hugged the enormous talking bear inside. It was one of those bears who you can program voices into, so when she squeezed she got a goofy sounding BeastBoy saying "I LOVE YOU". She turned her head and smiled proudly at her new toy.

Cyborg was fiddling around with the iPod I bought for him, trying to figure out the way to turn it on. When he figured it out, The same voice in Starfire's bear came out of it. He raised an eyebrow at BeastBoy who was reading the manual to the new video game I got him.

Robin sat down and tore into the envelope I got him. Inside was a tasteful card with a hundred dollars inside. He nodded his thanks. It was a cop out but I had no idea what to get him.

Raven was flipping through the book I got her, _The Anarchist's Cookbook. _A satyrical look at Anarchist philosophy and beliefs. Raven said thanks and that she would use it as a valuable study tool.

I was glad to see my new companions liked their gifts, I got up to pour myself a glass of eggnog. When I returned a rectangular package rested on my seat.

I sat down and picked up the gift. It was nicely wrapped in red paper covered in Santa Clause prints. Everyone was staring at me. Robin spoke up "Starfire came up with the idea, and we all chipped in." Starfire clasped her handstogether and hopped "Open it! Open it!"

I did so. Inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was a new trench coat. It was a deep black with dark crimson on the shoulder pieces. The buttons were a polished black metal. It was nice.

I laid it on the couch next to me, and smiled at my comrades. They all looked satisfied. I lifted the box and found it was heavy, there was still more. I dug beneath the tissue paper and pulled out another gift.

This was a new buckler. While my old one was made of aluminum, this was made of solid titanium. It was enameled a reflective black, and in the center was a large yellow 'T'. I strapped it to my arm and covered it in blue energy. It felt good.

"Go on, there's more."

I rummaged around and found two little fuzzy balls. I looked quizically at the five people next to me. Starfire said "Those are for Vortucal and Harra'k" I mouthed oh and tossed them to my cats who then began to play quite merrily.

I shook the box, and heard one last rattle. I rummaged around and grabbed a picture frame. Inside it was a newspaper clipping, the headline read "Newest Titan Saves Mall Goers." I nodded my head in appreciation. I thanked my companions for their generosity.

Everyone resumed opening of gifts. I watched my companions marvelling over their new possessions. As I sipped my eggnog Starfire sidled up next to me holding her new bear.

"Do you like your gifts?"

"Of course I do Starfire, do you like your bear?"

"Oh yes, it is a most glorious thing." She hugged it and it returned with a goofy "I LOVE YOU" Starfire giggled.

I smirked "Your adorable Starfire, you really are."

"Thank you for that Reaver." And Starfire gave me a non-rib-cracking hug. I returned it.

Suddenly Cyborg started strangling BeastBoy. Apparently BeastBoy opened one of Cyborg's presents by mistake. Starfire darted over to break it up.

For the first time in a long time, I laughed.


	8. Training day

Day after Christmas, and Robin had us training.

It was my first training day with the Titans, and it was intense. Robin roused us from bed at 8:00 AM and got us ready for a eight hour training session.

Robin decided this would be a good chance to learn the full extent of my powers, and was at the moment pileing large slabs of metal on my crouching form.

I grunted through clenched teeth "Huuugh, is this really necessary? I know how much I can lift."

Robin glanced down at the computer display. "I still would like to see for myself what you can do" He tapped a button and another slab dropped onto my form. I grunted.

Sweat poured off of me in rivers. I could feel myself reaching my limit.

Another slab, and another.

I dropped from exhaustion, safety catches kept me from being crushed by the multiple tons of steel. The metal lifted off of me and I staggered to my feet. Robin helped me up.

"You held up ten tons, impressive." I half heartedly smiled "Thanks."

Without even letting me catch my breath Robin dragged me over to a treadmill. "Let's test your speed." I groaned.

Five minutes later, huffing and puffing, I stepped off of the treadmill and sat on bench.

"Very good, top speed fifty miles per hour. Next we'll do an endurance test"

"I won't have to run, will I?" I whimpered

"No no no, you just have to stand there and be ready" He pointed into a station.

I wandered into the station and readied myself. A large tube popped out of a nearby wall, pointed at me and fired a medecine ball. I took it with a grunt and looked increduously at Robin. He shrugged and said "What?" Another ball fired. It was rough.

Several high speed balls and many bruises later I started getting thrown back by the balls. It was then that Robin shut it down.

I sat there panting, clearly exhausted. "Nice, you stood up to 60 MPH medicine balls to the chest. How do you do that?"

"Another, 'huff', function of my 'pant, wheeze' telekinesis, 'pant' I told you about. I form a weak kinetic barrier around my form. It's not enough to stop a bullet, but it's pretty handy in a fist fight. With it I can suffer blows that would stave in a normal person's chest and not die."

"Well your just a bag of tricks aren't you? Next we'll..." He stopped dead.

I sat with my eyes closed, concentrating. I channeled energy into my aching muscles and bones, negating my fatigue and exhaustion. I was now in tip top shape.

"What did you just do?"

"I regenerated."

"I thought you could only fix wounds."

I shook my head "No, when I regenerate I channel energy to speed up bodily processes. So I can heal wounds, end fatigue, even alter my metabolism and breathing rate. Hell, in a week I could get rid of almost all my body fat by increasing my metabolism."

"So why don't you? I was going to comment that you need to get in shape."

I once again shook my head. "Nah, doing so wouldn't change anything. I wouldn't be any stronger, nor any faster. Anyway, being at the weight I'm at now makes me seem more unassuming."

Robin narrowed his masked eyes, "Where did you get your powers anyway?"

"I learned them. My powers are actually a form of magic called 'Lifeblood' in english. It uses and augments life energy-"

"Wait, Raven come over here." Raven ceased her meditation and floated over "Listen to this for me. Alright Reaver continue."

"It uses and augments life energy to do extraordinary things. It's very much like Raven's Azarathian Soul Sorcery-"

Once again I was cut off, this time by Raven "Wait, you know about my magic? How?"

"Your magic is written about and referenced to in several tomes of magical knowledge. Such as the Guildbook of the Illuminati, The Testament of Azrich, The Book of Azar, The Scrolls of Morkic..."

"You've read the Scrolls of Morkic?"

"Why of course, what I really want to get a hold of is a copy of The Codical of Nicklos the Bastard."

"Really, well I have a copy..."

Robin sighed and left the two of us to talk nerd. He strolled over to a training dummy and began to beat the crap out of it.

* * *

Raven and I discussed magical theory and ideas for two hours before Robin yelled at us to get back to training. Raven began twisting and warping clay into various shapes. Robin challenged me to a sparring match. 

I cracked my neck and squared off against the little hero. He had his staff out andI had my buckler, charged and ready.

We stared each other down.

Robin made the first move. He dashed at me, staff outstretched like a spear. I surprised him by, rather than lean back into a defense, met his charge with one of my own. I crouched low and crossed my arms between his legs, and lifted up tossing him over me. I swept out backwards with a sideways kick, hoping to hit him as he fell behind me, but I only hit air.

Robin had stabbed his staff downwards and gained more air by pushing off of the ground. The Titan now earned his name as he was now soaring over my unbalanced figure. He landed behind me and swung brutally with his staff.

I raised my buckler to block... but it was a feint. At the last possible moment I pulled back my shield and darted up with my other hand, grabbing the offending weapon. I yanked back, and Robin stumbled forward.

I swiped down with my right hand, my fingers instinctively outstretched like I was wearing my claw. At the same time Robin raised his knee into my face.

We hit each other at the exact same time. I stumbled to my right from the blow and Robin rocketed into the mat. We both groaned in pain. I channeled energy into my cheek to get rid of the bruise, but Robin wasn't so lucky. He pawed at the mark I had left in his back, rolling in pain. After a minute he stumbled to his feet.

"I'm wearing kevlar body armor, and that still hurt." Robin rubbed his sore back. I wiped some blood from my lip. "Maybe we should call it quits for today." Robin nodded grimly.

I wandered over to a large metal tower and tapped on it's key board. Three little droids on hovers popped out.

"Let's see here, target practice, level 9" The droids began flying about crazily. I followed them with my eyes.

In one swift motion I drew my glocks and began firing, scoring hit after hit against the buzzing and whizzing drones.

Within seconds my clips ran dry. I checked the monitor. Of 30 shots I hit 27 times, not bad. I began to load up some new clips when I heard a whimpering behind me.

I glanced back. four of the other titans seemed totally unperturbed by my recent barrage, but BeastBoy was still and cowering in his speed transformation station. I sighed.

"BeastBoy come over here." He sheepishly approached. "BeastBoy, in the field I am going to be shooting alot. And I can't have you jumping in the air every time I fire a shot. So I'm going to be teaching you how to shoot. Hopefully that will break you of your gunshyness. Is that allright?"

"Um, yeah sure." BeastBoy looked terribly frightened.

BeastBoy looked frightened. I slid the clip out of one of my glocks and checked the chamber for a bullet, it was empty.

"Now this" I handed him the pistol "Is the 10mm Glock autoloader. It is a heavy, ugly, and powerful thing, just like me." I smiled "It sports a fifteen round magazine" I held up the clip, and handed it to him.

BeastBoy looked pale. "Calm down, a gun is just a tool, nothing more. Let me know when you want to stop. Now then, just slide that end into the grip of the pistol." He did so with a satisfying 'chunk'. I nodded and typed into the computer and lowered the droids to level one. They immediately began bobbing around like balloons in a light breeze.

"Allright BeastBoy, hold the gun out straight towards the closest one, line up the crosshairs and squeeze."

BeastBoy was shaking like a leaf. "Calm down BeastBoy, you can stop whenever you like." I reached up and steadied BeastBoy's hands for him when I let go he was much steadier.

BeastBoy squeezed off a round.

The moment he did so he shrieked and dropped the gun. It clattered to the floor, and in doing so misfired.

The bullet didn't fly far, the round flew and slammed into my kneecap. I winced in pain but tried to hide it. I started regenerating immediately. Thank god for rubber bullets.

BeastBoy was crouched on the floor, seemingly trying to hide. I smiled weakly "That was good! You nailed that sucker."

BeastBoy started to rise "Really?" I grinned "That's way better than my first time with a gun. I couldn't even hit a stationary target." That was lie, I've been a prodigy with a firearm since I had first picked one up, but saying that wouldn't have helped a thing.

I would have continued the lesson, but the alarm started blaring loudly.

Robin was on a console within a second. "Bank robbery, metahuman involvement suspected. Downtown, First National bank. TITANS, GO!"

And go we did.

* * *

"Robin, do we know anything about the people involved. It's important for my armaments." I spoke into a headset connected to my communicator. My hands were being used to steer my Harley. 

"Not much, only that there is indeed metahuman involvement, so go rubber with your bullets."

I grumbled, was I ever going to be able to use my special rounds?

I rode along side the T-car which was packed with my fellows. We sped across the city streetstowards the bank.

I overheard BeastBoy whining "Man, who robs a bank the day after christmas? Some sort of pissy antichrist?"

"I suppose if a pissy antichrist were to come around, and have need to rob bank, he would do it after Christmas. Or more likely it's a guy who wanted to rob it while it was closed, knowing that nobody would be on guard right after the holiday." I sarcastically remarked.

"Oh yeah! Well, actually that makes sense..."

"Cut the chatter we're almost there!"

* * *

A minute later I stopped out front of a First National. Things looked grim. 

A few squadcars had made a stand, and been struck down for it. The officers, five in all, lay where they died. Each one had suffered a single injury that killed them. A staved in skull, a slashed jugular, that sort of thing. It was messy.

The entire front of the bank was blasted off. It looked like it was done from the inside, for no purpose than to destroy. Luckily it appeared to make alot of noise, so any and all civilians were already cleared out.

Robin surveyed the scene. The rest of theTitans did their own thing. Cyborg was scanning, BeastBoy turned into abasset hound and sniffed aroung. I let my cats out of their carriers. Robin said"Titans, fan out! Find those responsible and when you do,call for backup immediately!

We dashed off in separate directions. Starfire acted an eye in the sky, flying off into the west. Robin and myself ran into the bank. Cyborg went south. Raven went east, and BeastBoy went north.

When we got into the bank, the entire thing was in shambles. Teller window were blasted off from their foundations, tables were cracked into splinters, office walls were crushed and laid bare.

Robin began to search the place.Vortucal andHarra'ksmelled around.I scanned the building with my senses. My Lifeblood magic runs off of life energy itself, as a result I can sense constructs of life energy, specifically anythinf that is alive. Unfortunately not everyone has a different kind of life energy, so one person looks the same as everyone else.

I channeled energy into my being, extending my reach with my life sense. I picked something up, two somethings to be precise. One off to my right, one off to the left hiding in analcove.

My eyes snapped open. "Robin, one off to the left another to the right! Split up!" And before he could reply I was running off, my feline companions hot on my heels. Robin turned and followed the left passageway.

I followed the figure to the best of my ability. The person was fast, much faster than I. He seemed to be slowing down every few seconds, just long enough for me to catch up.

Why would he do that? Unless...

My eyes widened with realization. A trap! I turned about to try and flee but a fist sailed in from nowhere to strike me.

Well it didn't come from nowhere, it really came out of the wall I was hugging. I ran headlong into an arm, clotheslining myself. I fell sprawling.

I rolled away from the wall as a foot came sailing out, stomping where I once lay. The remaining parts of the person crushed their way through the wall. I gasped.

"Hello Man, we meet again." The jackal grinning form of Comet stood before me.

"My names not Man, it's Reaver now." I struggled to my feet and extended my claw.

"Corpses don't need names." Comet grinned even wider and came at me.


	9. Courageous

Robin was jumping over desks and chairs in pursuit of the criminal. The man he was chasing was quick, but not inhumanly so. Robin was catching up.

His quarry ran out of a back door and into an alleyway. Robin leapt through the frame and glanced back and forth, searching for the criminal.

He saw the man standing at the mouth of the alleyway. He was about 6'6", and had amoderate build. He wore various shades of blue and his stark white hair was done into a top knot, despite that it hung down to his shoulders. Robin recognized him.

It was the man from Reaver's encounter, three weeks ago. This was the man who controlled cold.Robin drew his staff and a fan of birdarangs. "Halt, your under arrest!"

The blue man just smirked. "Hello Robin. I've heard much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Iceknight." He bowed slightly.

"I don't care what your name is, your coming with me!" Robin hurled the birdarangs.

Iceknight encased his arms in ice. The blades of the birdarangs sunk deep into the chilled ice, but not deep enough to score the man's arm. He lowered his arms."Well if that was your-"

He was cut off when Robin sailed in after the birdarangs and drove a metal boot into his face. The blue man went flying, thudding against a car. Robin smirked.

Iceknight spat out a bloody tooth and staggered to his feet. He looked upset. "That really hurt." He raised his hands over his head and gathered cold energy.

Robin drew a disc.

Iceknight hurled a wave of cold at Robin. Robin threw his disc. The two met in the air, and the disc passed through the cold.

Iceknight gasped and dove to the side. He avoided a direct hit from the blast, but was still struck by the concussion. The force of the blast sent the blue villain skidding along the ground, before he crashed into yet another car.

"Give it up, you can't beat me." Robin walked over to the prone man.

"You go ahead and think that. While I've been playing the weakling, my companion has been sneaking up behind you. NOW MONGO!"

Robin whirled around, and saw nobody. For a moment he looked confused, before his training kicked in and he leapt into the air...

right over a wave of cold. The companion was a trick, and it almost had gotten him. Robin realized the ruse in the nick of time. He drew another exploding disc.

Iceknight cursed and summoned more cold at the dodging Robin. Iceknight prepared two blasts in separate hands. He fired one at Robin and while the Boy wonder was in the air fired the other.

Robin was in midair, and had a very difficult time dodging. He was able to twist most of his body out of path of the shot, but got his leg covered in frost. He thudded to the ground, sliding behind a trash can.

Iceknight smirked and walked toward the receptacle, his feet crunching in the snow.

* * *

About three minutes after Starfire set off for an aerial search she was attacked. 

A large bolt of blueenergy surged from a rooftop. She dodged it in time, but just barely. She reached back for her communicator to call for help when even more bolts shot at her, this time dozens of them. She flitted about frantically, dodging all the blasts.

Throught the haze of blue projectiles she saw the origin of all the shots. One man, armed with what looked like bracers that bore tubes that came off the top. It was from these tubes the energy poured forth.

Starfire attempted to return fire with her starbolts but they couldn't make it through the storm of energy. She needed a plan.

Starfire flew low between buildings, cutting off the man's firing angle. She darted through alleys and streets, working her way toward the man with the energy blasters. When she rose near the rooftop he was on it was with starbolts leading. Her guess had been true when she saw him up close, looking surprised.

The man wore a green jumpsuit, and was actually rather ugly. His hair was messed and he bore some blemishes on his face. Up close the bracers he wore were wondrous looking, decorated with glyphs and runes that begged the question were they magic or technologically advanced? Starfire hurled her bolts, which the man easily dodged.The man cracked a grin.

"Hello lovely, what be your name?"

Starfire scowled, "I am asking you nicely to please surrender. I do not wish to fight you."

"Well Ms. Asking-you-nicely-to-please-surrender, quite a long name by the way, I'm Burstfire. And I can't say that surrendering is possible, you see me and my fellows are here to stay."

Starfire looked confused for a moment before she got it. "I am not Ms. Asking-you-nicely-to-please-surrender! I am Starfire! I wish you to EEK!" Starfire shouted as she dodged aside from motes of energy, this time red. She scowled "Your weapons are most useless at these close quarters! Give up now please!"

Burstfire spun his finger and said "Turn around lovely, you'll be most surprised."

"I shall not fall for that trick. It is, how you say, the most ancient one in the tome correct" Then she was hit in the back.

She staggered from the impacts, glaring at her combatant. "Homing energy my lovely. Now let's play!" He started firing near constant blasts of red energy. The Tamaranian shrieked and flew away from the chasing blasts of energy.

* * *

BeastBoy was running through the city when he saw the small aerial battle going on between Starfire and Burstfire. He started rushing towards the sight of the battle when he saw someone else. 

It was a man in a ski mask, black shirt, black jeans, and holding a pistol and a large sack that, ironically, had a dollar sign on it. He saw BeastBoy and his eyes widened and he began to run.

BeastBoy assumed the form of a tiger and bounded after the man. The man in the mask was keeping a good distance away from the tiger, he was fast...

BeastBoy chased him back towards a condemned, delapidatedbuilding, in it's heyday it looked like an old office. He dashed into the structure and around a corner. BeastBoy skidded on the floor behind him, and felt a jarring impact on his skull.

BeastBoy crumpled to the floor, the sense knocked out of him. He staggered to his feet and saw to his right a small blonde girl, in kaleidoscope robes holding a sledge hammer. She twirled the hammer and smiled cutely.

BeastBoy pounced, she demonstrated miraculous speed by leaping up over the jade tiger. BeastBoy smashed his tiger face into a wall that was behind her. He resumed normal form and rubbed his nose.

He glanced around and saw the girl standing once again in front of a wall, this time holding a four foot staff covered in glitter. She once again smiled and waved.

This time BeastBoy wised up, he formed into a giant octopus and lashed out with a tentacle. He made contact but she just, sorta, faded. Like she was made of sand that disappeared after she broke, offering no resistance. BeastBoy was confused and pondering when astaff gouged him in the eye. He transformed back and rubbed his eye. With his one remaining eye he saw her standing in the same spot she was at before.

BeastBoy wised up again and turned into a grizzly bear. Before attacking he sniffed around, and was surprised. A scent definately was coming from the smiling figure, but another one was coming from behind a pile of rubble nearby. He took his chances and charged the rubble, barreling through it with all of his might.

He struck paydirt when his charge was met with a shriek and a very upset girl flying across the room. Her petite form smashed onto a far wall. She crumbled to the floor with a groan.

BeastBoy resumed his elf form and snarled "What are you?"

She staggered to her feet, "I am one of a kind" She darted forward with her staff held high.

BeastBoy became a gorilla and grabbed tiny villainess, and then tossed her high into the air. BeastBoy looked up to see her land gracefully ten feet behind him. She got ready to charge again when a blue blast of energy surged from her side and plowed her into a wall, knocking her out cold.

Cyborg strode into the scene, his arm converting back to a hand. He looked at BeastBoy, smirked and said "You should go to the car and patch up that eye of yours."

BeastBoy blinked and said "Sure, I'll do that." He began to walk out of the ruined bank.

With his back turned BeastBoy didn't see the petite woman's form fade, nor the hulking metal form of Cyborg fade, replaced by a grinning blonde holding a sledgehammer. Silently she began to stalk up behing the changeling.

* * *

Cyborg was not pleased. 

His trek across the city had been fruitless and grating. His sensors were on a total sweep and he still got nothing. It was like nobody had fled the scene at all. He was considering turning back when his sensors caught something. A large mass was in a store not far from where he was. Cyborg started running towards the thing.

The store it was hiding in was a pawn shop, the front of which was smashed off. Cyborg converted his arm to sonic cannon and switched his eye's vision mode so he could see inside it's dark interior, he saw a hulking form and fired on full charge.

His shot impacted and barely left a mark. Theform shifted and strode out of the ruined storefront. It was a human shaped robot. Fifteen feet tall and made of gleaming white metal. He was streamlined and beutifully constructed except for the dent that Cyborg's sonic cannon had made a moment ago. "You must be Cyborg. I was wondering when one of you supertots was going to show up. I'm Golem by the way." His voice was a purely synthetic one, possessing no tone or inflection, just a droning sound.

"Enough chit-chat, what did you people want with that bank?" Cyborg aimed with his cannon once more.

"Very well, we intended to lure you out, or at the very least one of you. The human called Reaver I believe. wanted him most of all. But I suppose I should get on with the latter half of my instructions, your destruction. ha ha ha ha." The laugh at the end sounded quite comical coming from a seemingly emotionless robot.

Cyborg yelled and fired again with his cannon, scoring a hit on Golem's midsection. The giant robot seemed unperturbed as he rushed at Cyborg, his feet leaving large cracks in the asphalt. Cyborg rose his arms to block, but the sheer force of Golem's punch sent him flying across the street into a lamp post. Cyborg regained his senses and grabbed the now bent lightpost, swinging it like a club at Golem. The makeshift club swept out the giant's legs, forcing him to tumble to the ground.

Cyborg kipped up to his feet and ran at the prone robot. He crushed Golem's head into the ground, cracking the concrete and scuffing the robot's skull, holding him down thusly Cyborg fired a point blank sonic cannon shot into his face. Golem convulsed and grabbed Cyborg by the leg and smashed him into the ground. Golem regained his footing and hefted cyborg, smashing him into the ground over and over. The concrete cracked and chipped under the sheer force of the assault.

The road they stood on heaved and shook. Golem held still, stepped back, and crashed through the road. Both the robots splashed into the filthy waters below. Cyborg was jarred from Golem's grip in the fall. He crawled up onto a walkway next to the main trough, and scanned the area.

The cold temperatures had made it so that the water level in the trough was low at the moment, but was still a good five feet deep. With such a shallow depth it was a wonder Golem was submerged. He must have been laying flat on the bottom to be covered up, so the moment he rose he would be finished.

A moment later golem rose from the sewer water on his hands and knees. Cyborg pounced onto his back and began pounding. His fists made deep dents in his metal back, Golem's arms buckled under the assault, and then he rolled over, crushin Cyborg underneath several tons of metal and driving him into the rock beneath him. Golem hopped up and out of the crater, Cyborg hot on his heels

* * *

Robin sat behind the bin, rubbing his leg to try and restore blood flow to the limb. He looked out from behind the trash can and saw his adversary was getting closer. He cursed and tried to come up with a plan. All that was around him was a trash can, street lights, some cars, buildings and a fire hydrant, wait, a fire hydrant... 

Robin readied another disc, waiting to get the right angle on Iceknight. When he stepped up to the curb Robin hurled the disc. It caught on the hydrant just right and got stuck there. Iceknight's eyes widened.

When the disc blew it smashed off one of the spouts from the hydrant, spraying Iceknight with torrents of water, the force of which sent him flying into the hood of a car. The man's body smashed the windshield and dented the hood. He lay there groaning.

Robin gasped and ran to see if the man was ok. The pressure in the hydrant started todie out and became nothing more than a trickle. Halfway there Iceknight's eyes snapped open. He rolled to the edge of the hood and reached his arm down to the water there and pulsed cold into it.

Robin was standing in ankle deep water, and a moment later he was standing in ankle deep ice. He tugged at the frigid bonds to no avail. Iceknight slid off the hood of the car and limped over to the Boy wonder. Robin reached into his utility belt, and his hand was promptly frozen to it by a quick burst of cold. He reached with his other hand for his communicator, but it too was encased in ice.

Iceknight proudly stalked towards him, forming a sword in his hands. "You put up a good fight kid, but it wasn't good enough. Don't worry I won't kill you, you'll technically be alive."

Robin yanked and yanked. The ice was thick, and wouldn't break, so he focused his attention on wiggling his fingers in the little space they had.

Iceknight rose his frozen blade, preparing for his final strike.

With a cry Robin pulled, and got results. He slammed a knuckle into the man's face, but caught him before he reeled too far back and pulled him close. Robin held him with one hand and slammed his forehead over and over into Iceknight's face. After a dozen strikes Iceknight was out cold (heehee, pun)and Robin had a major headache.

He looked down at the limp glove protruding from the ice on his belt. He was wiggling his fingers to work sweat down onto his digits, with that done he managed to slip his hand out of the glove and catch Iceknight unaware.

He couldn't pull the same trick with his other hand, as it was clenched around his communicator. He sighed, knelt down, grabbed Iceknight's sword and began chipping his way out of the ice.

* * *

BeastBoy was walking through the doorway when he started to turn around, and barely ducked as a sledge hammer whistled by his head. He assumed the form of a snake and coiled around her leg, worming his way up her form to strangle the life from her. She recoiled and her silk leg covering easily slipped out from the python's grasp. She dodged back and ran through a doorway to the next room. 

BeastBoy was relieved that he knew Cyborg so well. When he had shot the girl he had made no celebratory comments, no 'boo yah', nor did he show that much concern for BeastBoy and his other injuries. He had turned around to ask him why he seemed so different, which is what saved his life.

BeastBoy converted into a bear and stalked into the next room ready for anything, except for what he saw.

Cinderblock, in all his cement glory, stood in that room. He growled and rushed at BeastBoy.

BeastBoy had fought Cinderblock on more than one occasion, so he knew that he couldn't beat him, his best bet was to get him down so BeastBoy could call for help. BeastBoy charged in bear formto try and unbalance him, and passed right through him. Cinderblock faded like he was made of sand that disappeared moments after it was it was broken up. BeastBoy passed right through the false Cinderblock.

The petite girl was standing behind him with the sledge hammer. She swung it likea baseball bat right into the charging BeastBoy's snout. The force of the strike knocked him flat on his butt. BeastBoy shook his head and looked around.

BeastBoy then shook his head again when he saw what surrounded him. Ten robed blonde women surrounded him, each one aiming a revolver at him.She smiled her friendly smile.

BeastBoy sniffed, and charged at one of the girls, and was met with solid resistance. The little girl was driven back into the wall and crushed under several hundred pounds of bear. BeastBoy heard more than one rib crack before he let up. She slumped to the ground and BeastBoy regained his normal form.

She whispered "How?" BeastBoy looked down at her "When I rammed you before I rubbed against you, and you got some of my scent on you. All I had to do was charge the one that had a little bit of bear smell on her, and that was you. Who are you anyways?"

She smiled with bloody teeth "My name's Illusia, and I'm guessing you already figured out what I can do."

BeastBoy nodded "You can summon upillusions of just about anything you want."

"I suppose your going to take me to jail now?"

"Your right" BeastBoy drew a pair of handcuffs.

"Well, I'm not going to allow that to happen!" She dove to the side, and staggered to her feet and began to run. BeastBoy shook his head and walked after her. She staggered around a corner and fell.

BeastBoy found her slumped against a wall of an old cubicle breathing heavily. BeastBoy walked over to her... and plunged in a hole.

BeastBoy fell into the basement through a hole. The floor that was supposed to be below him faded like disappearing sand. BeastBoy plummeted a good distance before landing in a pile of rubble, konking his head and passing out.

Illusia staggered to her feet and started to leave the ruined building.

* * *

Starfire darted in and out of alleyways and streets, the energy bolts hot on her heels. 

She flipped herself over and began to counter the pulses of red energy with her own green power. Several bolts of power were canceled out, but she barely made a dent in their number. She continued her dashing about, occasionally blasting when one bolt got too close.

She flew into an abandoned building and used it for cover. She realized the folly in her plan when the bolts just maneuvered around the cover, finding holes in the building and surrounding Starfire. Just what she wanted.

Starfire gathered all energy she had and pushed it outward. A green wave enveloped the motes of power and destroyed them. Her display melted most of the building around her. Converting the concrete and metal structure to molten slag in seconds. She panted from her exertions and flew back off towards the roof where Burstfire wasdwelling.

She approached low, hoping to retain her element of surprise before he could fire more charges of energy. She came up near the edge, and successfully caught Burstfire unawares. Pasting him in the face with a starbolt and sending him reeling. Starfire relentlessly struck him with repeated Starbolts, making Burstfire ragdoll his way across the rooftop.

After the assault Burstfire fell to his knees, panting, his suit was in tatters. Starfire kept two starbolts charged "Please surrender, I do not wish to continue my assault."

Burstfire grinned and said "I don't want you to continue either my lovely. But unfortunately I can't give up. I got a reputation and a job to keep up. So if I fail a job, I better die doing it." He staggered to his feet and glanced down athis bracer. Burstfire's bracers shot out jets of yellow energy that were three feet long. "So let's do this lovely, and do it well" he grinned and ran at Starfire.

He swiped with an energy blade which was blocked by Starfire's glowing green hand. Burstfire swept low and Starfire began floating to get over the swipe. Burstfire continued his attack, each time his swipe was blocked by a glowing starbolt hand. Burstfire double stabbed low, and Starfire rolled forward and charged more energy into her hands. She grabbed down and held the energy blades, the energy of her starbolts protected her from any damage. She continued her roll and flipped Burstfire over her and into the concrete ground. He groaned and rose back up.

Starfire floated back and started hurling starbolts. Burstfire deflected the blasts with his energy blades. This continued until a beeping noise came from the man's bracer. He looked down at it, "Well lovely our time is up. I must say I have enjoyed our time together." He deactivated his bracer and bowed "Until next time my lovely" he fired orange energy at spots on the rooftop that erupted into clouds of orange smoke. Starfire coughed and flew up. Heavy winter winds dissipated the smoke fairly quickly, and by the time that happened Burstfire was long gone.

"Oh... Blorfnoars." Starfire blushed at the curse and looked around to make sure nobody heard her.

* * *

Cyborg leapt out of the hole to chase Golem. He landed heavily and once again charged the robot. Golem whipped around with a heavy hand. Cyborg blocked the heavy limb, and twisted his arm. This would have been a good maneuver, had Cyborg been fighting an organic being. The twist just resulted in Golem's arm pivoting, not his joint twisting. Cyborg was now off balance.

Golem swept down with his other hand and crushed Cyborg between his limbs. Cyborg twisted up his right leg and aimed it at his adversary. A slot opened in hisfoot and a small nozzle poked out. From it spewed a fully charged sonic cannon shot, sending Golem flying back, restoring Cyborg's breathing ability.

Cyborg didn't give him the chance to get up. He switched his arm to sonic cannon mode and began to relentlessly pummel Golem with shots. The enormous robot could not regain his footing.

Golem drove his fists into the ground to steady himself. Cyborg continued to fire. Golem's arms opened and missile pods protruded from the openings, four on each arm. Cyborg gasped as the explosives launched out and exploded on his form.

Cyborg held his ground, and his shoulders slid out exposing his own missile pods, striking Golem with twice the number of missiles that were just fired at him. Golemheld hid ground against the assault as well.

Cyborg charged, Golem returned the charge. The battle devolved down to a robotic slugfest.

This kept up for several minutes, before Golem was encased in black telekinesis and hurled into a building. Cyborg looked up and saw a descending Raven. "Having fun?"

Cyborg smiled "You know it Rae." Golem rose to his feet.

Raven gathered her energy and formed thin planes of obsidian energy which she launched at Golem, cutting deeply into his body. He staggered and fell to his knees.

Cyborg dashed at his enemy and drove a sonic cannon into his face and fired. Golem's face shattered, and the giant finally fell.

"Well that was easy." Raven droned

"Maybe for you" Cyborg muttered. The robotic Titan was covered in dents, scrapes, tears, scorches, and a few bruises on his flesh parts. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was drawn by the explosions, generally that means one of us is fighting something." Raven explained

"Alright, well come on. We're not done."

"Maybe I'm not but you are. Look at yourself, your so damaged it's a wonder you can stand."

"I can't stop, this bastard said that this was all to get to Reaver. The dude must be in trouble. We gotta go."

Raven sighed "Allright Cyborg, let's get this done with."

And the two ran off to save Reaver.


	10. Strong

Comet came at me, and I was ready.

I interposed my buckler in front of the attack. The impact made my feet slide back a few inches and it numbed my arm. I channeled energy into it to keep it from staying that way. I jumped over his next punch and launched a strike of my own.

My claws made contact on his chest, and did nothing. I hopped back to observe what I had done. The only damage I did seemed to be a few tears in his shirt. His skin wasn't even marked, if he had had an itch there I probably wouldn't have even scratched it.

That was fine, I'll just put more energy behind the next one. I charged low and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. My leg made contact, but seemed to do nothing. All I got was a sudded pain in my shin where I hit him, he didn't even budge. Comet grinned and swung down at me. I barely rolled out of the way, his fist caught on my coattail, tearing the fabric. I rolled to my feet and looked at him and gaped.

His fist was driven into the marble floor up to the elbow. He grunted and pulled out his buried fist.

I reached into my coat and drew my glocks. I sighted in and began firing at him madly, emptying both clips in a few seconds. Comet looked unperturbed.

Alright, let's try live rounds.

I reached into my coat for my additional clips, but didn't get the chance to slam into my guns as Comet came at me with a heavy swipe. I abandoned my attempts at reloading and went on a full dodge. Comet may have strength and toughness, but I was faster.

I ducked under a right hook and came up with and uppercut along his torso, channeling power into the strike to cut. I felt my claws bite into something, but I didn't get the chance to find out.

After my swing I was left open. Comet punched at my torso, and met my buckler. My arm was pushed back into my chest and I was sent flying across the room and out the door into the main room of the bank. I kept my wits and used the chance to reload. My fresh clips slid in with a satisfying 'chunk'.

Comet strode out of the office and met a barrage of firepower. He brought up his guard and met the onslaught. After the smoke cleared Comet stood still, smiling like a jackal.

Okay, armor piercing rounds.

* * *

Robin was just about done chipping away at the ice around his feet and hands. 

He took one more powerful swing and with a loud crack he was free. Good thing too, Iceknight didn't look too good, he was losing alot of blood, and Robin wasn't sure if his ice powers would guard against hypothermia.

Robin tapped some buttons on his communicator, but got nothing. The ice must have ruined it.

He took stock of the situation and ran into a nearby store. Hopefully they had a phone.

* * *

Comet rushed after I got only one clip in. 

He flying kicked at me, and I rolled to dodge. He landed and without missing a beat swung a foot at my gut, and made contact.

If felt like a freight train had just wailed me. I flew back again, smashing into and through a wall, slamming into the T-Car and denting the door considerably. Idropped my Glocks in the flight.

I coughed and came up with blood. I held my gut groaning. My mind focused on regenerating, on repositioning my organs and spine, and reinflating my lungs. They all shifted back into place with sickening lurch. I staggered to my feet and wiped bloody drool from my mouth.

Comet strolled out of the bank like he had just opened a savings account. He even was even whistling.

"What the hell are you Comet? Some sort of mutant, or alien or something?" I hissed through clenched, blood stained teeth.

When the man stepped onto exposed parts of the bank's stone steps, they cracked and broke. Like a heavy weight was put on them. I gaped, and he grinned.

"Inquisitive little bastard aren't you? Very well, I will slake your curiosity before you die." He slowly walked forward, I fingered something in my coat. "In addition to being a fine martial artist and a brilliant man, I can increase and decrease my mass at will."

I was confused "Wouldn't that just make your body too heavy to move?" I found what I was searching for in my coat and quietly slid it into my hand.

"Not exactly, my strength increases proportionately, as does my toughness." He grinned once more. "So it takes the weight of a freight train to move me, and no blade can cut me. Suffice it to say, I'm inv-"

I cut him off with a shotgun round intohis face.

Comet was caught off guard and the sudden force actually knocked him over. Ijumped over him and landed in a roll coming up with mydropped Glocks. I slammeda clip into the empty one and began firing teflon coated armor piercing rounds at him.

Cometstarted to rise, his face twisted into a snarl. In his hands he held two rocks, which he hurled at me. I grinned at the oppurtunity and raised my buckler.

My buckler deflected one of the rocks, but the other nailed me in the chest. Luckily my deflected rock sailed back at Comet, knocking him flat once more. I took the oppurtunity to regenerate my ribs and load up my Glocks with more ammunition.

* * *

By this time Starfire was finishing her battle with Burstfire. She whipped out her comlink. 

"Friends I have discovered an adversary, but he has escaped. Has anyone else made any discoveries."

Robin responded "Yeah, some Joker who called himselfIceknight. I took care of him and am heading back to the bank."

"Cyborg here, me and Rae got a giant robot guy named Golem. We'll meet at the bank."

BeastBoy failed to respond, as he was still unconscious.

* * *

I heard the entire conversation over my communicator and was concerned when BeastBoy made no response.

"Vortucal, Harra'k, find BeastBoy."

My cats had been staying out of danger and out of sight until they were called. They meowed in response and sped off. I turned my attention back to the recovered Comet.

"Damn, only Illusia got a kill on you punks. Your better than I expected." He grinned again "Sounds like your friends will be showing up here soon. Better mop you up before they arrive."

I snorted and started shooting again. These were like the last bullets, except better. They had a depleted uranium core that was compressed. Each bullet is very dense, and as a result when fired at high velocities they could punch through a two foot thick brick wall.

These did the trick as Comet started screaming in pain as the bullets dug into his skin. When I was done he was covered in a large number of tiny blood spots. Each no worse than anail going half an inch into his skin. He looked mad.

Comet came at me full bore. I easily dodged his swings, occasionally reaching in and giving him a love tap on the face, trying in vain to hurt him.

Comet clasped his hands together and struck the ground, shattering the pavement I was standing on. My footing was now compromised and uneven. While he was crouched Comet grabbed onto my foot and held me upside down. I panicked and grabbed my Glock.

I fumbled with the gun. I aimed it at his head and fired. He didn't even twitch. Comet grinned and said "You should be flattered. I raised my weight up to twenty tons just for you, so no more of those bullets. He reared back and punched at my gut.

The next thing I knew was the most terrible, mind numbing, soul shattering pain of my life. In my life I have been cut, stabbed, shot, bludgeoned, whipped, amputated and ripped. None of my previous experiences compared to this pain.

Comet dropped me to the ground with a sickening slap onto the cold ground. I reached down and felt the meat that was lefto of my gut.

The punch had so much power behind it that it had torn a hole through me. The flesh wasn't cut or stabbed through, it was torn.

My body instinctively began to regenerate. Clotting the blood to avoid bleeding to death and regenerating my spines so parts of me could move. Within moments I staggered to my feet, but just barely.

Comet seemed pleased, he then began to speak.

I wasn'tlistening. I was channeling power into my claw, all the power I had available. I held back just enough so that I could regenerate and not die. My claw practically glowed.

Comet stopped his speech and gazed quizzically at me.

I raised my claw, and swung in a horizontal swipe. From my blades five arcs of blue energy flew forth and impacted the man in front of me. Comet raised his arms into a block, and began to slide across the ground.

I smiled and sat down.

Comet continued to be pushed back, but his speed was decreasing more and more. After a few seconds he stopped, and started pushing back.

I was stunned.

Comet continued pushing, driving the energy back. He flashed his jackal grin and swung his arms out, canceling the energy all together.

In less than a minute he had defeated my best attack.

I have only performed that technique twelve times, counting the latest one. Each time my opponent has either died or just plainly been beaten. It was out of desperation I performed that attack, and it had failed. I was left with nothing.

It's a curious feeling knowing that your best isn't good enough. It's a combination of dissapointment, regret, and an odd sense of accomplishment. Like you know that things couldn't have turned out better no matter what you did.

All these thoughts swirled in my head as I gazed at Comet. The man was grinning. While my attack hadn't beaten him, it had definetly hurt him. Blood poured out of deep cuts in his arms. I saw the white of bone momentarily, yet it seemed Comet felt no pain.

I assumed a defensive stance. Comet never stopped grinning.

From Comet's side a number of attacks converged on his form. A stream of green power, a burst of blue light, a claw of obsidian, and a handful of small globes. The force of the converged assault was enough to send even Comet flying.

I turned and saw my companions around me, in various states of disrepair. Cyborg looked like he could fall apart at any second. Robin looked like he had been laying in a freezer for a few hours. Starfire was disheveled and windburned. And Raven, well Raven looked just fine. Despite their injuries they were all grim faced and battle ready.

Comet staggered up and took stock of his current situation. Things didn't look good, but that never stopped him before.

Comet rushed at the five, and leapt up. He came down heavily onto Cyborg, smashing the metal man into the ground. Robin struck at him with his staff and was met with a jarring impact that sent vibrations along his weapon. Comet grinned and bitch slapped him into the air.

No sooner than he struck Robin was he encased in black power, and Raven grunted at the sudden strain of trying to lift the man. Starfire swooped down and grabbed him under the armpits, adding her own considerable strength to the lift. To their credit they lifted him about four inches.

Comet rapidly adjusted his weight, making himself about as heavy as a normal man. Starfire and Raven were still using quite a bit of force trying to lift him, so Comet shot away like a rocket. Everyone gasped.

Within seconds Comet was little more than a memory and a distant speck on the horizon.

* * *

Three hours later Robin, Raven, and Starfire had found where Comet had landed.

He had burrowed a hundred foot long, five feet deep trench in the middle of the woods, thirty miles away.

There was no sign of blood or anything, so the man had survived unscathed.

* * *

Cyborg, BeastBoy, and myself were recovering in the tower.

All of us were currently in the lounge of the tower. BeastBoy's injuries were not that bad. All he had wasa bad knock on the head and a few bruises. Cyborg needed repair, but most of his injuries were to his armor and not to anything vital so he was mostly fine.

As for me, well for me it would be yet another long night of regeneration. Might as well do it here than in a hospital bed.I was sitting on a towel, sipping aprotein shake.

I flipped through some of the channels on the main TV. BeastBoy barraged me with questions.

"Dude, how did you survive a hole in your gut! A big one!"

"Clean living"

"C'mon, be serious! That doesn't seem possible."

"Why are you complaining? I'm alive aren't I, isn't that enough?"

"Well yeah, I just want to know more is all."

"Fine, I'm fueled by the souls of the damned."

"C'mon, stop teasing me!"

"Who's teasing?"

BeastBoy looked aghast, I looked serious and angry.

I grinned.

BeastBoy fumed "Duuude! Not funny!"

I laughed "I really had you going didn't I? Ha ha, souls of the damned, hee hee hee"

BeastBoy looked upset.

The screen flickered and the image of our fearless leader was projected onto the screen. "I have something to report"

Cyborg sipped from a soda can "Yeah, well spit it out"

"A note, buried under some dirt near the end of the trench. It says: Dear Teen Titans, Well played defeating my cohorts. You proved yourselves far more capable than I once believed possible. Take care, as we will be meeting again soon. Signed, Jeremiah Comet of the Broken Moon Crime Organisation"

Cyborg raised a human eyebrow "Broken Moon Crime Organisation? What's that?"

"I don't know, do as much research as you can on it. We'll stay out here and do more searching."

"Allright, be careful Robin." And at that Robin clicked off the monitor.

* * *

Robin turned off his communicator and sighed. He read the next part of the note.

"P.S. To Reaver, playing hero isn't going to erase past sins. When you wise up and realize what side you really belong on, we'll be waiting for you.


	11. Beaten

Next morning, 11:30, Titan's Tower.

I strode into the main lounge and stretched. I felt great. An all night healing session had patched the hole in my gut right up. Now it was just one of many scars.

BeastBoy was patched up by Raven the previous night after they returned from investigating Comet's crash site. He was currently playing some game on the X-box with Cyborg and Robin. Judging from his current expression he was winning.

Starfire was merrily cooking away in the kitchen. She was working on some sort of alien dish she would more than likely serve to us. I sort of looked forward to it.

And Raven was on her spot on the sofa, reading from the Scrolls of Morkic I had given her. I has traded it for Codical of Niklos the Bastard, a fine read.

Robin died in his game and turned back to me "You all healed up Reaver?"

I smiled "Yes sir, I feel great. Unfortunately healing a wound that severe required quite a bit of power, so my energies are going to be at a low ebb for the rest of the day."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "If your low on power do you want me to put you on second tier for the rest of the day?"

I shook my head "Nah, I should be fine. Just don't expect me to heal any amputated limbs or anything like that."

BeastBoy turned back to me "I still don't understand how you can be standing after something like that. It doesn't seem possible."

"Neither does a little stick boy who can turn into a multi-ton dinosaur at will. In case you haven't noticed the laws of physics really don't apply to us."

"Dude, the stick boy comment was harsh!"

Cyborg chimed in "Hah, stick boy! stick boy!"

"knock it off!"

I laughed and turned to the metal man "So Cyborg did you find out anything about the Broken Moon?"

"I got the main computer doing a search. It'll scan police records, our database, the Justice League's database, and the entire Internet. If there is anything out there about this crime syndicate we'll find it."

"When will it be done?"

"In about twenty hours. Our scan is very thorough."

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Enough business talk. Hey Reaver, you want in? We need one more person for a four player match." BeastBoy chimed in

I shrugged "Sure, let me just get something to eat." I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bagel. I turned around an orange skinned alien stood before me.

"Greetings friend Reaver! I trust you are healed from your most grievous injury."

"Of course Starfire. I wouldn't be out of bed otherwise."

"Glorious! Now that you are healed perhaps you would like to partake in some of the delicious Tarblaaz. A most delectable dish from Tamaran. It is used to promote the recovering of energy. We tamaranians eat it when we are exhausted from using too many starbolts" She held up a plate of what looked like purple berries mixed with ground meat.

I sheepishly stated "Sure Starfire." I lifted a fork and scooped some up. I swear it squeled in pain.

I hesitantly took a bite. Sure enough, it had the consistency of berries in ground meat. I almost gagged at the texture, but the flavor was odd. Not bad, just odd.

I swallowed, and pondered the aftertaste. I smiled "It's good Starfire, I like it"

She clapped her hands and giggled. She held the plate out to me. "Please, eat your fill"

I took the plate and went back over to the couch. It was then that I noticed everyone staring at me agape.

BeastBoy spoke first "Dude, you like that stuff?"

"It's alright, nothing to scream about, but it isn't bad."

Cyborg said "You are the first person to say that about Star's alien food."

I smirked "I've had alot of different foods, so I have a more experienced palate. Meanwhile you people eat nothing but pizza, beef jerky, tofu, eggs, chinese, and various meats."

"What's wrong with that?"

I shook my head "Nevermind, what are we playing?"

"Halo 2"

"What's Halo 2?"

They nearly fell over.

* * *

Several hours later, after getting the pants beat off of me repeatedly. 

"I don't get it. I'm intelligent, I have reflexes that border on precognition and excellent hand eye coordination. How the hell do I keep losing?"

A moment later I got an energy sword up my backside, courtesy of Robin. He smirked.

"It's all skill Reaver. Physical ability has almost nothing to do with it."

The alarm started blaring.

Robin flipped off the main monitor and dashed to a computer console. "It's on the docks, looks like a drug deal gone bad. The police showed up but got beaten back. No other details."

I hopped out of my seat and tugged on my coat. Everyone else was already prepared. "Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and BeastBoy. Fly directly there. Reaver and I will approach from a different angle to block off any attempts at escape. TITANS GO!"

Starfire airlifted me down to my bike. I slipped on my helmet and kicked my Harley into gear, Robin did the same. We drove down the bridge as the rest of the Titans flew directly at the docks.

The December air bit into me through my coat. I shivered. Robin pulled up next to me and together we rode to the crime scene.

* * *

The flying Titans arrived first. 

Sure enough things looked exactly like a drug deal gone bad. It looked like one gang was backing up to some boats that were moored to the docks. Some people in their number were carrying suitcases. It looked like they had snagged the drugs in the deal and were trying to get them away.

All four of the teenagers set down near the boats. All of the gangers turned around at the sudden arrival.

"Oh damn, it's the Titans! Light'em up!" All of the gunmen turned their firearms towards thenew arrivals and opened fire.

Their bullets met a forcefield of black energy. Within the span of a few seconds all their guns clicked dry.

The forcefield dropped and out of it charged a large man of metal. Cyborg yelled and smashed the nearest thug.

One of the smarter drug runners had not totally emptied his clip, realizing it would merely fail at the forcefield. He opened up on Cyborg, forcing him back.

He sighted in on Cyborg's fleshy skull and grinned. He was stopped by the sudden impact of a ram's skull on his hip. The man screamed and fell to the ground. BeastBoy transformed into a gorilla and tore into the drug runners.

The other Titans made quick work of the unloaded gangers. It was all over within fifteen seconds.

Cyborg felled the last of the thugs. He reached down and grabbed one of the suitcases and opened it.

"Huh? What the hell is this!?" Raven turned towards him "What's wrong?"

"This is what's wrong" He turned the suitcase towards his friends. It was empty. He reached down and picked up a semi conscious thug. "Where are the drugs!?"

"What's wrong metal man, need your fix?" The thug smiled with bloody teeth.

Cyborg shook him "Don't play with me man!"

"Go lube your joints asshole."

Cyborg growled and tightened his grip. A gentle hand grabbed his arm.

Raven looked up to her ally "Let me" she touched her finger to the man's forehead.

The man then started screaming and Cyborg letgo of him. "The drugs are with these other guys we hired! They're taking the drugs with them to a safehouse! They went south!" The man stayed on the ground whimpering.

Raven nodded.

Cyborg said "You didn't do anything permanent, did you Rae?"

"Nothing he hasn't experienced before. All I did was dredge up some bad memories. He'll be fine, it's mostly the sudden shock that did it."

"Oh, alright then. Well if he's telling the truth we need to get down south. I'll call Robin and Reaver." He whipped out his communicator. "Robin, you there?"

"Yeah I am, go ahead Cyborg."

"The drugs are being moved to a safehouse south of our position. We'll mop up here, you and Reaver should take care of the drugs. I'll send Starfire and BB to help you."

"Understood, you sure you and Raven will be up to beating all those thugs?"

"We should be fine. Now get going!"

* * *

Robin flipped off his communicator and turned towards me. 

"Reaver, new destination, follow me." He turned down a side street and I followed.

We revved past warehouses, Robin kept his gaze transfixed forward as I scanned side alleys.

Suddenly Robin stopped, skidding to a halt in front of a large warehouse that had a fish on it's sign. I pulled up next to him.

"I'll proceed on foot from here on out, you stick to the roads and see if they took any vehicles. Stay in contact."

I nodded and sped off. Robin darted down a snow covered alley. He yanked out a grappling hook and fired, pulling himself onto a roof top. He proceeded to leap from roof to roof. After ten minutes of searching he found paydirt.

A small group of people were working their way down alleyways to avoid any pursuit. Too bad it failed.

Robin whipped out his communicator. "Reaver, I have contact they're working through the alleys near deacon street."

* * *

"I've got contact as well. Two vans moving south along the street we were on. One of the groups has the drugs." 

Robin responded "How do you know they are with the drug runners."

"They're shooting at me"

The doors on the back of the vans were swung wide and two gangers were firing wildly at my bike. I was leaning forward holding my shield in front of me to deflect the bullets. Unfortunately the bullets were coming so fast I didn't have the chance to reflect them back. I spoke to Robin through my headset.

"I'll take care of these chumps you handle the other guys." Before he could respond I clicked off the communicator.

I whipped down my right hand and grabbed my pistol. I tossed it forward and caught it with my left. I waited for a lull in the firing before twisting my hand and firing at my assailants.

The bullets zoomed past the men in the van and struck the straps that was holding the gunner in place. The van turned and both men tumbled out of the vans. Both bounced along and were down for the count.

I revved my engine and sped up to the vans. Now out of their firing arcs I aimed at their tires and wasted them. The vans jerked to the side and crashed into eachother. The vans continued on momentum for a short distance before slamming into a wall. The remaining conscious men staggered out, their hands up.

I whipped out my shotgun and took aim and fired off a warning shot. The men jumped. I proceeded to handcuff them.

When that was done I started to walk over to the vans to find the drugs, if there were any. I stepped into the ruined hulk of one of them when I heard an sound.

I turned around and focused on the sound. It resembled the noise Robin's R-cycle makes, but it seemed louder. Like the engine was more powerful.

I looked both ways down the road and saw nothing. The drugrunners seemed to be elated at the noise however, like they were expecting it. Probably some joker who they called for help when they saw me following them. Still, if they were this happy about him showing up he must be good. I extended my claw and charged my buckler.

The sound grew louder. I still couldn't place it's direction. I closed my eyes and focused on my hearing.

At the last possible second I picked up where it was coming from and dove out of the way. A motorcycle slammed down where I was standing.

The bike was a racing model that had been modified for flight. Several small jets were placed all about it's frame and the entire thing was splattered a deep shade of crimson. On the bike was a short, sort of asian man. He wore black jeans and a red shirt to match his bike. Over this shirt he wore a striped black leather jacket. In his hands. He wore racing goggles and his hair was done up into spikes.

"Howdy loser. I'll be taking my employers back now." His speech carried a slight cantonese accent.

"Just try punk" I jumped at him and swiped with my claw.

The asian man hopped off and my strike bit into the seat of his bike. I rode with the swing and hurled myself over the bike. The mercenary recoiled and assumed a martial arts stance. I came at him.

The man reached into his coat and drew a small pistol. I raised my shield and blocked his shot.

Instead of reflecting, the bullet impacted the shield and collapsed, emitting a sort of ripple in the air.Upon doing so my shield shorted out.

"You like it? I call it the breaker bullet, named after myself, the one and only Power Breaker." He bowed "It ruins any and all powers people like you possess. You'll find that your shield is quite useless now."

He was right. I was attempting to channel energy to my shield and body, but I got nothing. I was now relying on my own power.

Which wasn't good. I used my powers for just about everything. My body felt heavy, like it was made of lead. My muscles were weak, and my reflexes slow. I felt very, very human, and I didn't like it.

Breaker threw off his coat, revealing an excellent body. He resumed his combat stance and grinned.

Oh, dammit all to hell.

* * *

Robin tailed the thugs for several minutes, waiting for his chance. When the group moved into a narrow alley he saw his chance. 

Robin jumped down into the midst of the thugs and began tearing it up.

Robin felled one thug with a swipe from his staff, smashing another thug in the face with a metal toed boot in the process as well.

Robin landed and whipped out a fan of birdarangs. The remaining thugs rushed the short hero.

Robin hurled his birdarangs, each one striking a different thug. One of the thugs jabbed at Robin. The Boy Wonder smashed the man's hand with his staff, breaking his fingers.

Within three seconds half the thugs were downed.

Robin smirked. The remaining criminals ran out of the alleyway. Robin pursued.

When he reached the mouth of the alley he saw the thugs running down the street and moved to pursue.

A three bladed glaive struck the road in his path. Robin skidded toa halt.

The glaive wobbled and ripped out of the ground. It spun in the air towards a woman standing behind Robin. She wore leather armor with silk at the joints. Her red hair was done into a ponytail and in her hand she held a scimitar. She raised a hand and caught the glaive as it flew at her. Her face was blank.

Robin said "Hello, let me guess. Broken Moon Crime Organisation?"

"You are correct." She hurled the glaive with a snarl.

Robin spun to the side as the blade whizzed at him. The glaive scratched the pavement, scoring it with a deep furrow. Robin charged with his staff and swung.

The woman blocked the swing with her scimitar. Robin brought around the other end of his staff but she twisted and parried the blow out wide. Robin worked with the momentum and brought his foot up to her side. The woman staggered.

She hopped back and raised her hand. The glaive whizzed into it. She smiled and threw it, straight into the ground. The blade bit into and through the concrete, disappearing below the surface.

Robin was confused. No less than a second later the blade flew from the ground. Concrete exploded everywhere as the blade tore out of the concrete. Robin was able to roll out of the way enough to avoid losing a leg, but still got a deep cut on his thigh. Robin gasped in pain.

The woman smirked and caught her glaive again. Robin grit his teeth and reached into his belt, drawing forth a disc. The woman jumped back and hurled her glaive, and Robin met it with a disc.

The woman covered her face to protect herself from the blast. When she opened her eyesshe saw that the two halves of her glaive were skidding past her.

"My glaive! You will pa-" She was cut off by a series of small globes impacting her form and exploding. The force of the blast threw her back. Her smoking form slammed into a snowdrift and she was knocked out cold.

Robin drew his communicator. "Titans! The Broken Moon is involved in this! Everyone check in"

"BeastBoy is a-ok"

"Raven here"

"Cyborg is fine"

"Starfire is undamaged"

"Reaver where are you?... Titans! Find Reaver!"

* * *

At that moment I was getting beaten badly. 

Breaker was much stronger than me, and faster now that I had no powers. I wasn't liking life at the moment.

Breaker pulled back for another punch, I raised my shield and blocked it. Not that it mattered, the force of the blow drove my arm into my face, sending me sprawling to the ground. Breaker laughed. I was pissed.

I reached into my coat for my Glock, now that there was some distance between us I could bring my guns to bear. I sighted in and fired.

My bullet sunk into the meat of his forearm. My gun was blasted out of my hand by the kick back. My gun skittered to the ground ten feet away from me. I started crawling and reached for it... and Breaker crushed my hand under an army boot.

I screamed in pain and rolled onto my back. Breaker grinned.

I summoned what was left of my strength and rose my foot up to his back. I put a good amount of force behind it, causing him to stumble off of my hand. I lunged for my gun, but Breaker kicked it away. I rolled and staggered to my feet.

Breaker snarled and came at me again with a jab. I raised my shield at an angle and slid his fist off of it's surface. He fell forward. I lunged at him, but was too slow.

Breaker darted his foot forward and regained his balance. He then backhanded me across the face, sending me spinning like a top. I sprawled on the floor, again.

I labored up to my feet and readied my claw and shield. Breaker charged. He whipped up a kick, and wailed me in the face, and it was then that I saw my chance.

I straightened my claw and stabbed forward, right towards the man's crotch. I felt my claw bite in, but not deep. The man must have been wearing a cup. Breaker jumped back, clutching his groin.

"YOU ROTTEN BASTARD! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU IN HALF AND PISS ON YOUR CORPSE!" He readied himself, now very angry. I put up my meager defense.

Breaker came at me with a right hook, that smashed right in my face. He followed it up with a fist to my gut. I doubled over and fell to my knees, and was booted in the face, hard. I was flipped over backwards and onto the concrete. Breaker cracked his knuckles and grinned. I raised a foot to kick him, but he caught it, raised his boot and slammed it down on my knee, shattering it. I screamed.

It was at this point my communicator buzzed.

We both fell still, listening. Robin's voice crackled over the device"Titans! The Broken Moon is involved in this! Everyone check in!"

"BeastBoy is a-ok"

"Raven here"

"Cyborg is fine"

"Starfire is undamaged"

"Reaver where are you?... Titans! Find Reaver!"

We both looked at eachother. Breaker fumed "Rrrr, you are one lucky sonovabitch. He grabbed his coat and sat on his bike. He flipped me off and drove away. I did nothing.

I tried to reach my communicator, but couldn't find the energy. I resignedly lay there waiting for help.

* * *

Help came a minute later, it was Raven. When she found me I was in bad shape.

My knee was twisted at an odd angle and was bleeding. My face was covered in bruises and blood was pouring from my mouth. I had two black eyes and a shattered nose. I wasn't a pretty sight.

Raven's hands immediately started glowing gray. She placed them on my ruined knee and concentrated.

"Raven, that won't do any good remember? You..." I trailed off as my knee began to knit and heal. I gasped.

Raven droned "I no longer sensed the barrier that was there before. That's what was stopping me before" She stepped back from my repaired knee. "What happened?"

"Some guy named Breaker was here. He cancelled my powers. Without them I'm just an out of shape kid with a Freddy Krueger fixation and a dinner plate on my arm." Raven moved onto healing my eye

She commented "Geez, you look terrible." I replied "Thanks" She smirked.

Our communicators buzzed. Raven flipped hers out. "Another crime, a break in, across town." She looked at me.

I waved her away "Go, go, I'll be fine." I staggered to my feet "I think my powers are coming back already anyways" I attempted to channel power, and found the same block as before.I smiled weakly. Raven nodded and flew off.

I got on my bike and rode back to the tower. When I arrivedthe Titan alarm was already going off with another crime.


	12. Protective

Things were hectic, to put it mildly.

It was two days since the incident with the drug bust. I was healed and so was Robin. At the moment we were busy dealing with yet another crime.

We had been strung out severely over a short period of time. The Broken Moon was very good at coordinating raids. We had to deal with multiple crimes everyday, sometimes even at the same time. At the moment it was BeastBoy, Starfire, and myself handling arobbery on the roof of a Skyscraper. There were two metahumans and a small army of thugs to deal with. The villains were a man who wielded a very sharp katana and another guy who hurled concussion blasts strong enough to break a brick wall. BeastBoy was dealing with the goons, Starfire was handling the concussion guy, and I was handling the sword wielder who simply called himself 'Samurai'.

He wore a Japanese fighting kimono and carried a gleaming golden katana. At the moment we were circling one another. We had been scuffling for a few moments in the street, during which he scored a strike on my arm. One would think I would have the advantage with my buckler, but once again fate sodomized me. When he struck my shield his blade passed through it, biting into my arm. I wondered how he did that.

Samurai rushed me and chopped down. I swung out with my buckler and slapped his blade aside.I lanced out my claw and cut his shoulder. He ignored the wound and brought his blade up into a diagonal cut, I rocked back on my heels to dodge it. Samurai simply brought out his hand and palm striked me in the chest, knocking me down. I thumped hard on my butt, and Samurai once again raised his impossibly sharp blade, and brought it down.

I raised my claw to block, and to Samurai's great surprise, successfully did so. Samurai's blade halted four inches over my face. I raised both my feet and kicked him away from me, hopping to my feet in the process. I assumed a defense stance. I glanced at my claw and saw that Samurai's blade had marked it. My claw now had a burr on the center blade. I frowned.

This time I ran at Samurai. I struck high, but Samurai blocked with his own blade.Now that his guard was high I easily slammed his face in with my foot. Samurai stumbled back and grabbed his bleeding nose. I followed up with a fist to his face and put him down.

I turned back to my companions. BeastBoy was forced to stay in very fast forms to avoid all the gunfire. Since all of his very quick forms lacked alot of combat ability there were still a good three dozen thugs, and more were coming.I sighed and got ready to clean house.

Starfire was using her aerial speed to avoid her foes concussions. It was difficult to dodge the shots because they were effectively invisible. They only appeared as a very slight ripple in the air, so Starfire's best bet was to keep moving at all times.

The man was handsome, and wore a simple suit. He was grinning, and charged up another ripple in the air. He raised his arms over his head and lobbed an enormous blast. Starfire rolled over it and countered with a starbolt. The concussion man was struck dead center. He crashed into the ground with a grunt. The man raised his arms and grimaced in concentration. Starfire had no idea what was going on.

Then the first one hit her. I felt like a strong man had hit her with thrown a baseball at her. She was hit with one, then another, then another. The concussion man was firing many tiny concussion blasts at her. Within a second she was being peppered with the tiny missiles of force.

Starfire was immobilized. She couldn't move out of the path of the blasts without lowering her guard, and lowering her guard was suicide at this point. For a moment she pondered, and then fell straight to the ground.

Starfire had cancelled her flight, and then reactivated it moments before she struck the rooftop, and darted at the man in the coat. He didn't even have the time to react. She struck him in the chest with a starbolt charged fist, and once again drove him into the ground.

She stood over him as he groaned in pain. She smiled in triumph as she looked down at her fallen enemy. His head lolled, and his eyes weakly opened his eyes. Suddenly his orbs snapped open and he began grinning. Suddenly Starfire was struck in the chest with an enormous concussion blast. She out cold the moment she was struck. The Tamaranian's limp form ragdolled up, and overthe edge of roof.

I turned away from the latest thug I was fighting. I saw Starfire freefall off of the rooftop, and ran after her. I dove off of the roof and descended after her.

Starfire had quite a lead on me, a solid thirty feet. I straightened my body like an arrow, andchanneled energy to prepare for my landing. I started to reach out for her. At about forty feet from the ground I reached her.

I yanked her up and slung the girl over my shoulder and flipped my feet up towards the ground. I pushed all the energy I had channeled into my feet and crushed intot he ground. All the energy I channeled pulsed out in a bright wave of blue that shattered the concrete I landed on. I stood shakily... and collapsed to the floor.

The energy I had used was enough to keep me from splattering, but not enough to protect me from harm totally. My ankles shattered and could no longer hold my weight. I focused and began to regenerate the damage.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Oh, hell.

I looked up, and six men were standing in the alley in front of me. They were all armed with weapons that were similar to the ones the other thugs were armed with. I grimaced.

"Seems as though we found ourselves a cripple Titan." the lead thug grinned "Light him up boys!" They all aimed their guns at me.

I quickly slumped Starfire off of my shoulder and rose to my knees. I readied my shield.

The thugs opened fire. I moved and twisted my shield like a madman, deflecting asidedozens of rounds. I worked fast, but many shots made it through. When the barrage was done I was several pounds heavier from all the lead in my flesh. I wasn't happy.

The thugs began to reload. I didn't give them the chance to finish. I moved as much energy as I could into my claw and swung, once again summoning the five blue arcs of energy.The power fanned out and dispersed, filling the alleyway with blue energy. All six men were quickly and painlessly vaporized, leaving behind no trace of their presence, save their guns. It was like they never existed.

I chanelled energy to keep from bleeding to death. So much exertion over such a shor period time drained me of everything I had left. I fell to the ground and knew no more.

* * *

'What the hell were you thinking!?" 

I sat on the couch in Titan's tower leaning back trying to relax while Robin chewed me out. BeastBoy had followed me in my descent after Starfire and gathered us up after he found us both unconscious. We had arrived at the tower a mere hour ago, and I had regained consciousness just ten minutes ago. Starfire was still out of it though.

"How could you kill those men?"

I sighed "Robin, how many times do I have to tell you? I had no choice!"

"You always have a choice! Superheroes don't kill people! You should have shot them, or just hit them or something!"

I tried to remain calm "Robin, I had lost my guns up on the roof. My ankles were shattered, I couldn't have reached them in time. I was also badly wounded, and I had to protect Starfire." I got up. "I'm not sorry for what I did. I am sorry that it came to that. Under different circumstances I would be sorry."

"Listen to you! You feel no remorse, you-"

"DON'T EVER SAY I FEEL NO REMORSE!" I slammed my fist into the wall and cracked the concrete. "I will mourn for those men, but I will not feel sorry. Feeling sorry implies that if you could go back you would have changed your decision, and that is not how I feel. I would change nothing. You can be mad all you want, but it won't change anything. Those men will still be dead, nothing can change that short of powerful magic. I'm going to my room to pry some bullets out of my flesh, sorry for the mess on the couch." I walked into the elevator.

Robin snarled and looked down at where I was sitting. The entire seat was stained with blood, my blood. Robin cursed loudly. "Dammit! Dammit all to hell! What is wrong with him? Can't he see what he did. Six men are dead tonight because of him!"

The rest of the Titans had been watching the entire time. Cyborg spoke up "Yeah, but he did save Starfire."

Robin snarled "Yes I know that. That's why I hate myself for being mad at him! It's like I'm punishing him for saving Starfire, it's l-" A gentle, pale hand was placed on his shoulder.

Raven said "Robin, calm down. Getting upset won't fix anything. People make mistakes, just because Reaver is a superhero doesn't mean you can hold him to a higher standard than that."

"Well we can't let him make any more mistakes like that."

Raven continued "When people are tired they make mistakes. And I think we're all tired."

BeastBoy stepped up "Yeah, we've done alot of work in the last three days. The most since I've joined at least. It's been too long since I got a full night's sleep"

Cyborg spoke up. "BeastBoy's right, we have been run ragged. And it's only going to continue like this. Comet has too many men, and we're only six people."

Robin sighed "allright, I have an idea."

* * *

Two days and four crimes later. 

The lounge was packed. The five original Titans were currently saying hellos to the newcomers. Over the years Robin had made several people Honarary Titans. Doing so gave them the ability to call upon the Titan's aid if necessary, the reverse was true as well. Robin had called in every single Honarary Titan, which was quite a bit.

BeastBoy and Cyborg were currently conversing with whom I was told were Aqualad and Bumblebee.

BeastBoy said "Aqualad, what's up dude. Any luck with that Brother Blood guy?"

"Hello BeastBoy, no luck as of yet. A little while after our last ordeal with him he went underground and we've had some trouble bringing him out, and that's when you called."

Bumblebee spoke up "Yeah so we decided to help you guys, and maybe get some help in finding Blood."

"I'll talk to Robin about helping out when we're done with this, alright Bee?"

"Thanks Sparky"

"Don't call me Sparky."

Robin was conversing with Speedy, the masterful archer and Green Arrow's sidekick.

"Speedy, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to help out."

"No problem Robin, glad to help. So what's going on here anyway?"

"Don't worry Speedy, you'll be briefed."

"Good. Now I'll help you guys on one condition, I get to spar with you. I want payback for the master of games fiasco."

Robin grinned, "Sure Speedy, anytime, anyplace."

Starfire was trying to get Hotspot to open up, unsuccessfully I might add.

"Hello you must be the one called Hotspot. Robin and Cyborg have told me much about you from their Master of Games Adventure. Tell me, how are you?"

Hotspot glared.

Starfire smiled.

"I'm fine." Hotspot growled.

"That is most wonderful. Tell me, will you be my friend?"

Hotspot glared, Starfire smiled.

Hotspot rolled his eyes, "Sure, why not."

He was immediately enveloped in a bone crushing hug. "Glorious! Hello new friend!"

Hotspot gasped, and concentrated. His body immediately began to heat up, more than hot enough to burn Starfire lightly.

"EEP!" Starfire leaped away, rubbing her burned self. She looked at Hotspot mournfully.

"Do not do that again." Hotspot's eyes glowed.

Starfire simpered "Yes, I have been told that my hugs can make people angry. I am sorry."

Hotspot was still angry. He snarled at Starfire and turned around. Starfire looked like she was about to cry.She sat down and Robin came over to console her.

Raven and Wildebeest were hitting it off.

Raven said "Hello, you must be Wildebeest"

The beastial man grunted

Raven sat down and began reading. Wildebeest continued to sit and glower.

And I was sitting on my bloody spot on the couch, trying to work out that burr in my claw. How Samurai was able to damage it I will never know. Vortucal and Harra'k were lounging about next to me.

I sensed an approach and looked up. Bumblebee stood before me.

"Hey there. Your a new face. How long you been around."

"The last three weeks." I scraped the burr with a whetstone.

"A newbie huh. Name's Bumblebee." She extended her hand, her right hand.

I reached up and grasped it, careful not to hurt her with my claw. "I'm Reaver." She looked down at my hand.

"I thought it was you. You're that assassin, Man. Ain't that right? Yeah I heard of you, you mmmpph!"

Ireached up and covered her mouth with my spare hand. "Sshhhh. Sit." I gestured to the seat next to me. I removed my hand and she sat.

"How did you hear about me?" She leaned back "I used to be a part of H.I.V.E., you did a mission with us, remember? It was about three years ago."

I thought back, and sure enough I remembered that job. It was a basic hit and run mission. Get into a mob boss's hideout, and kill him. I had done it without killing a single man besides my target.

"Alright, well please don't tell them anything you know about me. They already know I was an assassin, they don't need to know anymore."

"I will do as you ask. If you were a dangerI'm sure the Titans would have dealt with you already. I'll be watching you though."

"Iexpected no less.I thinkRobin's going to start soon."

I turned and saw theBoy Wonder standing infront ofthe main monitor. He whistled and called attention to himself.

"First and foremost I would like to thank you all for taking timeto help us out with this problem. Now let's get down to business." He clicked a remote and the screen flickered to life.

"Our current opponent is the Broken Moon Crime Organisation." He clicked his remote and a few files popped up on the monitor. "They are an organization that is in control of so many metahumans they rival H.I.V.E. in number. They recruit any and all metahumans they can find. They pull jobs for themselves as well as renting out metahumans for other jobs, thusly making anybody with money a force to be reckoned with. Theyhave their hands in allsorts of crime from dogfighting to drug smuggling" He clicked the remote and several profiles of metahumans we knew about popped up. It was quite a few.

"They're leader is a man known only as Mr. Comet." When he mentioned him I got a slight ache to the scar on my chest. "His power is that he can increase the mass of his body, in doing so he can increase his strength and toughness. We have seen that he can raise his weight to approximately twenty tons. At such mass he has titanic power and toughness. Not even bullets can harm him."

He clicked his remote and an overhead view of the city with several markers all about. "In the last three days they have assaulted these positions. On average they strike four times a day." He clicked his remote, and some of the dots changed color. "The blue dots are crimes committed by those employing members of the Broken Moon, and the red dots are crimes committed for the Broken Moon itself. Most of these crimes have been successful."

Robin clicked off the monitor. "It is adivised that you all read the files we have on the Broken Moon. For now we will divide into squads. Squad one will be comprised of myself, BeastBoy, Starfire, and Hotspot. Squad two will be made up of Cyborg, Bumblebee, Aqualad, and Speedy. Squad three will be Raven, Wildebeest, and Reaver. Each squad will be ready for anything at their assigned shift. During off shifts the squads will be resting and doing research to try and find where the Broken Moon will strike next. Any questions?"

Bumblebee raised her hand "Excuse me Robin, are these squads permanent or can they be moved around if need be?"

"If need arises we will move around people within the squads. We will not however move things around just by desires. I have put alot of thought into these placements. Each squad has access to heavy hitters, ranged fighters, flyers, and someone who has alot of experience and know-how about the city and detective skills."

Bumblebee lowered her hand.

"Any other questions?"

Nobody raised their hands.

"Very well then. For now you all will be shown to your rooms. Any emergencies tonight will be handled by the original Titans. In the morning we will begin teamwork building training. Dismissed."

We all got up. I approached Wildebeest and introduced myself, he grunted in response. I've had worse introductions. I showed the beast man to his room. He grunted in thanks.

I went back to my room and started making bullets. It was a good meditation for me. I began the arduous process of melting the metal and pouring it into the mold. While that was going on I began to mix my powder and prepare other components.

I used this as a meditation because I was so used to doing it that I managed to work it on instinct, not even having to think about it. So I used this time to be alone with my thoughts.

Bumblebee's confrontation had brought up old memories. I ran through that job Itook with H.I.V.E. a while back. I went over every detail. In doing so memories of old jobs were dredged up, from work done in my early days to stuff done just a month before I met the Titans.

It made me wonder. Did I belong with the Titans? Was I really good enough to be a superhero? I may have the skills, but not the heart. I hurt people, I killed people, and would probably do it again. Hell, I had been wanting to kill Comet ever since he drove his fist through my gut. I had one or two tricks up my sleeve for the next time I fought him, and I planned to use those tricks to kill him. I guess such thoughts weren't meant for a superhero.

I sighed as I removed the melted metal from it's oven and poured it into my mold. The metal hissed and sputtered.

I sighed and turned off the lights. All of these thoughts were moot anyway. I wasn't going to just up and quit in the middle of an important case. They needed me. It was good to be needed.

I was tired. Maybe answers would come to me easier in the morning.


	13. Wounded

10:00 AM, the next day.

I woke up and once again began making my bullets. I opened the mold and begand to apply the casings and internal components.

BeastBoy knocked on my door, and got no answer. He knocked again with similar results. He shrugged and opened the door. A quick glance around the main room showed that there was nobody present. He heard music coming from the workshop and walked over there.

He opened the door and saw me hunched over my workbench. I was working on some of my components for my bullets.

"Hey Reaver, come on we got a... Dude, you like Staind?"

His question was brought about by the fact that I was currently blaring Staind over a small boombox set on my bench. I looked up and turned towards the green boy. I flipped off my goggles.

"Yeah, they rock. I really like this one song that's..." I trailed off when I noticed that BeastBoy had gone pale, turning a sort of light green.

I immediately knew why. I was a gunsmith, a good one. In my short time with the Titans and some time before I joined them I made guns in my spare time andput them on display in my workshop. The walls were adorned with gleaming metal weapons. Copies of models adorned the walls, even some guns of my own devising. Shotguns and automatics hung from hooks. Spare pistols all ranging in caliber were everywhere. Even a few grenade launchers and sniper rifles were about.

And BeastBoy was gunshy. I'm surprised he didn't wet himself.

I immediately grabbed my stereo and pushed BeastBoy out of the room. I donned mycoat and set down the stereo.

"I'm sorry about that BeastBoy. I should have warned you."

"It's alright, I'm fine. Do you really need that many guns? It all seems like overkill."

"I probably don't need them, but I like to be prepared. There is a gun in that room for almost every purpose a firearm can perform. I have small easily concealed pistols, high caliber automatics, low caliber automatics, long range weapons, you name it. And of course replacements for my Glocks and Mossberg."

BeastBoy whimpered.

The stereo switched over to a new song, a song I knew quite well.

I changed the topic. "Ahh, this is my favorite song." It was _It's been a while _by Staind. "We can go, but not until this song is done."

BeastBoy shook off his previous fear. "Really, why?"

"Because BeastBoy, everybody can relate to this song at one point or another. Some more than others. If you don't already you will know someday."

BeastBoy looked confused, but nodded. We sat until the song was done and headed down to the gym.

* * *

We were sharing our training session with our guests today. 

We separated into our squads and began to learn more about each other's capabilities. Raven and I knew each other's powers fairly well so the main focus was on what Wildebeest could do.

He was good. Wildebeest's powers seemed were strength and toughness. He could easily heft a truck, and his hide was thick enough for him to be almost completely immune to bullets. He also possessed an impressive speed that you wouldn't thinkwas possible with his size. Unfortunately it seemed as though his only means of communication is grunts and other animalistic noises. If he could talk he did not reveal this fact.

We were working on a combat simulations when we had our first slip up. I ran at a training robot with my claw out when Wildebeest got in my way. I ran headlong into the beast and since I was pushing myself with my powers I hit him with quite a bit of force. We flew tumbling across the length of the gym, slamming into the opposite wall. We completely missed the robot who then began to pelt us with training lasers.

I was upset. "Dammit! What the hell was that Wildebeest? You saw me going for him right?" Wildebeest gave a loud grunt in response.

"Is that a yes or no? Two grunts for no, one for yes." He grunted once.

"If you saw me then why did you get in my way." Wildebeest gave no response.

Raven floated down from her overhead position "Maybe he sought to protect you. Intercept himself between you and the line of fire. That robot did have his gun trained right on you."

"I have this buckler for a reason you know. I could have guarded against anything he shot at me." I held up my buckler which still glowed with power.

"Maybe he didn't know that, he also probably didn't know about your strength. We didn't really tell him much about our powers you know."

I sighed. Probably best to back down on this one. "Allright, I'll take your word on this one Raven." I turned towards the enormous man. "Listen Wildebeest. My powers are super strength, my claw which is near invulnerable and can cut most anything, I can regenerate from just about anything that doesn't kill me, I'm fast, I can shoot my guns with a type of marksmanship few believe possible, I can-"

I was cut off by Wildebeest's stunned reaction when I mentioned my firearms. "What, so I use guns, big deal. Cops use guns, why can't I."

Wildebeest growled.

"What, so now your mad at me? Is that it? Listen, I use rubber bullets when appropriate. I need to use them, otherwise I possess no ranged capabilities."

Wildebeest just continued to growl. I was getting annoyed.

"I'm not going to kill anyone unless I want to alright. Now do we still have a problem?"

He grunted once.

"Don't tell me that your afraid of guns as well. Is that it?"

He grunted twice.

"I promise I won't hurt anyone anymore than I would if I just got up close. It's all about control Wildebeest. If I control my shots I can't hurt anybody seriously. It's just like either of our powers. Control is what's important. For instance, you could crush someone into pulp if you wanted to, Raven could turn somebody into a fine red mist, and I could shoot somebody in the face and kill them, but we don't because we have control over our talents. Now, are we still going to have a problem?"

He paused and grunted twice.

"Good, now can we please get back to our training?"

He grunted once.

* * *

We continued our teamwork exercises for two more hours. The training was going well. We were getting used to working by eachother's side. Though it was no replacement for actual field work, it was a good start. 

I cut sideways and downed the last of another wave of robots. I smirked and retracted my claw. I looked towards my two battered companions. Raven said "I think that's enough for now. Our teamwork isn't going to get any better today."

I nodded "I'll be doing normal exercises then." I strode over to a workout station.

I put the weights onto the bar and laid down. I hefted the bar easily, it only weighed a hundred pounds.

When I say normal workout I don't mean a standard workout for me, I mean I'll be working out like a normal person. With the bar lifted I cut off my power, and suddenly it felt the bar weighed seven tons.

My fight with Breaker had taught me a real lesson, I couldn't always count on my powers. Up until then I had let my muscles and bones weaken because A; I looked unassuming and inconspicuous and B; Weaker tissue was easier to regenerate as it required less nutrients. I had decided to hell with looking unconspicuous. I was a Titan, soon everybody would be able to recognize me. And recent research had shown that toned muscle and dense bone just gave me more material to draw upon.

I worked out like this for about an hour, occasionally someone came over tospot me. Even though it was a short workout it felt like I had been at it for days. I had been channeling energy to speed up bodily processes ever since my fight with Breaker. My metabolism was now through the roof and I was moving protein and calcium at an incredible rate to speed up muscle and bone growth. I was now about one and half times as strong as I was when I fought Breaker just a few days ago. I had even repaired my eyes so I no longer needed my glasses.

I sat on the bench, stooped forward and panting from my exertions. A bottle was thrust in front of me.

I looked up and saw Robin presenting it to me. I smiled, took it, and begandraining it of it's contents. Robin sat down next to me.

"So how did your workout go?"

I gasped from my chugging. "Not bad, Wildebeest works well on a team. Which is surprising since he's a solo hero. How about you?"

"Well, Hotspot is a solo Superhero too, and I think I know why. He sucks as a teammate. He almost caught BeastBoy on fire. Don't worry though, he's fine and Hotspot apologized. He likes to do everything himself. Not to sound cliche, but he's a hothead."

I snickered at the pun. "Squad two seems to be doing fine. Though I've noticed that they seem to enjoy being ranged. Only one robot has been taken out in close combat, and that was because Aqualad has no ranged weapons. What can he do again? Swim and breathe underwater, is that it?"

"Not at all. Atlanteans can swim very quickly and breath underwater, but he can also communicate with animals, though Atlanteans specialize in sea creatures. He is alsosuperstrong and very tough, not to mention his excellent skills. He is very quick on his feet and has great reflexes. Lastly he possesses a control over water, though I don't know exactly why. He almost beat Speedy with it once."

I whistled "Quite the portfolio. He's alot more than I thought he was. Atlanteans rock the house."

"It's not all good. He needs moisture to stay strong. Otherwise he's a kitten."

"Harsh. We shouldn't have to worry much about that though. All the sno-" The Titan alarm started blaring and cut me off.

Robin took a quick look at the clock. "Squad three, this is your shift. Move!" The three of us nodded and ran out the door.

* * *

Due to Wildebeest's bulk our ride was changed. 

We were driving in a Bronco that Robin had from his days as Batman's sidekick. We ripped out the backseat and Wildebeest was sprawled in the back. I was driving and Raven was shotgun. I felt like I was driving home from a successful hunting trip.

Our crime for the day was nother robbery, this time at a jewelry store. They were getting bolder, robbing a store early in the morning. Either that meant they had alot of muscle or they thought that we were too tired to be a threat. I hoped it was the latter.

We pulled up right out front of the store. The police had tried to establish a perimeter until we arrived, but that had failed miserably. There were four broken squad cars seemingly thrown about the street, like a tornado had struck. There were no signs of the officers, nor the criminals. We were apparently a little late.

I flipped open my communicator and checked police scanning. Some officers were in pursuit down a street a few blocks away. I stomped on the gas and sped away.

Within a few minutes I had found them. They were weaving through the streets to avoid the squadcars pursuing tehm. Thankfully that made them easy to catch up to, and intercept.

I sped the car into the path of the oncoming white van, it did not slow in the least. Raven's eyes glowed gray for a moment and the van was encased in black and stopped almost instantly. It gave very little room for the pursuing police to stop as well.

Physics would say that the people inside should have beenhurt, but not badly. She slowed it down a bit before she stopped it, so rather than a seventy mile per hour jerk, it was more like a forty. More than enough to K.O. any normal human.

But we weren't dealing with normal humans.

I tore out of the driver seat and rolled, coming up with drawn guns. Wildebeest slid out of the back of the car and got into a fighting pose. Raven floated up and her hands glowed with orbs of grey. Even the police officers jumped out and drew their side arms.

I sensed two life signs, and one odd life sign. It's like it wasn't complete. It was like the extra life energy I sensed in a pregnant woman, not enough for actual life but it was there.It was curious, and unsettling.

The side door of the van slid open. Everyone tensed themselves. Nobody came out. I still sensed life inside. I growled "Come out with your hands up..."

Oddly enough two men, with their hands up walked out. I was shocked. They were completely normal. They could have been anybody off of the street. They wore somber and defeated looks on their faces.

I was so stunned that they stood there in the middle of the road for a good thirty seconds before I remembered I had to arrest them. I walked over and cuffed them. I shoved them towards the police. I closed my eyes and focused, but the third presence was gone.

"That was easy." Raven droned.

"What gives, the police could have handled that. Why were we called?" I directed this question at one of the officers.

"Sorry kids. We panicked when four of our cars were taken down. My supervisor heard that and decided to call you."

"I don't like this. Those weren't the men who destroyed those cruisers and police officers. This smells like a trap." Raven looked around warily.

Our communicators buzzed.

I flipped mine open and checked the display. A little map of the city panned out with a star in one place and a dot in another. Some text rolled down the screen.

"Raven, what is this?"

"It's displaying our position and another crime's position. We are on the exact opposite side of the city from it. It will take us at least five minutes by car."

She looked up at me, I shrugged.

The dark girl sighed. "I can teleport us there, but it'll be draining.I won't be that useful in the upcoming fight."

I thought about it for a second, then came to decision. "Do it."

Raven nodded and summoned a dome of obsidian energy around us that then faded into the cement.

* * *

A moment later we appeared in a warehouse near the docks. 

Teleportation is disorienting. It's like a very hard pull for the briefest of moments until you reopen your eyes and your in a brand new place. It had to be the most disorienting thing ever.

I shook my head and ended my grogginess. I whipped out my communicator. "Alright Raven, we're only a couple hundred feet from the target."

Raven was sweating and breathing hard. "Thanks, I just need a minute to collect myself." she slumped to the ground.

"Sure Raven."

She quickly calmed her breathing and folded her legs.She entered a meditative pose and took a deep breath. She then began chanting.

"Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos... Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..."

I recognized this form of meditation. It was an integral part of Azarathian Soul Sorcery. It prepared your soul for having parts of it taken away. When a Soul Sorcererperforms any sort of magic they place part of their soul in whatever they conjure. After the effect the portion of the soul returned but the act of having some of your soul torn from you is often more than enough to kill a normal person or at the very least drive them into insanity.

I watched her meditate for a few moments. I glanced over and saw that Wildebeest was also watching her.

After about a minute she calmly rose to her feet. She brushed herself off and began levitating a few inches off of the ground.

"You alright now Raven?"

"Yes I am. Thank you for waiting."

"No problem, now let's go beat some ass."

At that we darted out of the warehouse and into the cold of the winter air.

* * *

We all ran directly down the street towards the crime. 

The incident was occuring aboard a yacht. It was an enormous thing, more of a commercial cruise ship than a yacht. It belonged to a man named Frederic Graf. He was a stockholder in Star Labs, as well as many other businesses. He was actually doing a service to his company in that he was playing courier for them. The Star Labs in Jump City had been dissecting villain technology to try and find other uses for it. Progress had been slow until they made a breakthrough with the power crystals that Star Sapphire used. It was discovered that when properly agitated could be used to store ludicrous amounts of energy safely. Sort of like a giant battery, but only if the battery could hold the equivalent power of a twenty megaton nuclear blast, and it was self perpetuating. In an air filled environment it recharged itself, but if it drew too much energy into itself it became unstable, violently unstable. Which is why the Titan alarm was hooked up to the yacht's security system and we were all informed about it being here.

The giant boat was moored into the harbor on the north side of the docks. It was attached to a private pier.

We all hopped over the fence and ran to the boat. Outside of it there were three vans, much like the one we saw previously. I sensed no presence within.

I did however detect people inside the yacht. I couldn't get an actual number but it was alot.

"They're already on board, they must be looking for the crystal. I can't get a number though."

"Allright, the crystal is the priority. We need to get that and get it out of here. Then we can deal with the thieves. I know where the crystal is so I'll take point."

Wildebeest and I nodded. Raven flew onto the deck of the ship and we followed. She ran over to one of the doors to the inner rooms. A few minutes of dodging intruders passed until we made our way into the hold beneath the deck. I flipped on a flashlight as we approached the front of the ship.

When we reached the front Raven knelt down. She felt around the ground and took a few seconds to find what she was looking for. She grabbed a panel with telekinesis and lifted it off. Underneath was a box with a padlock. She grabbed the box.

"Got it"

I turned around "Good Raven, now teleport us out of here. Then we'll come back and-" I then ran forward and kicked Raven aside.

Raven tumbled to the ground with a groan. I readied myself and was hit with a vicious slash to the chest. I grunted in pain and slashed at my assailant with my claw, pushin him back. I turned to face my attacker.

It was a man, a scary man. His face was gaunt and hollow and scraggly hair hung in wisps all over his face. He wore an all black body suit that was tight and showed off his impossibly thin frame. In his hands he held a pair of worn sickles. The most unsettling of all was that he was showing off a gap toothed cracked grin that fit very well on him, like it belonged there.

His lifesign was exactly the same as the other life I sensed in the van from before. It was a broken and ruined presence.

He raised his blade and licked my blood off ofit. He blanched like he had accidently just drank spoiled milk. He spat out the crimson substance.

I was lucky. His life energy had appeared just a moment before, and I sensed it dashing right at Raven. I did the only thing I could and knocked her away, and in doing so took the blow. I have no idea where he came froml.

He scowled at me. "You taste vile" His voice was so hoarse it must have been excruciating to talk.

I ignored the man. "Raven, get the crystal out of here, Raven?"

I looked to the girl. She wasn't moving, but she was alive. Guess I kicked her too hard.

I hopped over to her limp form and flipped the box up into my hands. "Wildebeest, get this out of here!" I threw the box to the animalistic man. He caught it with a grunt and tucked it under his arm. He immediately began to trot over to the door.

The sickle man interposed himself in front of the door. Wildebeest raised a hand to swat him away. The sickle man did nothing to block or dodge. Amazingly Wildebeest seemed to miss, and after the thin man was obscured for a second by Wildebeest's titanic arm he was gone.

Wildebeest was confused for a second before he felt an excruciating pain on his back. He reached around to grab his assailant but the thin man easily dodged his frantic, clumsy grabs. The thin man gleefully cut and rended the beast man's flesh.

I jumped in and sent him flying with a kick to the ribs that sent him into the side wall. Wildebeest whined in pain but other than that seemed fine. I handed Raven to him. "Take a more direct route." I crouched and cupped my hands low.

Wildebeest nodded and ran at me. I readied myself. Wildebeest raised a foot and deposited it in my palms. I raised my hands and threw him heavily towards the ceiling. The combined force of my throw and Wildebeest's jump was enough to blast him out of the ship and get him a good distance away from the vessel.

Wildebeest's hole shed light into the sarcophagus of a hold. A large shaft of light lanced down into the darkness,only the spot it shone on was illuminated. I turned towards the claw man

I readied myself for a fight. I sensed out to try and find my adversary, and found nothing. I dug into my senses more to try and find him.

I found him a moment later. He was coming up from behind me and I dodged to the side. His cut fell short and his second swing was met with my shield. I flipped up a foot against his chin, and made noimpact. My swing left me open and he cut the inside of my thigh. I hopped back on one foot and began healing.

I was confused. I knew I made contact but I got no resistance. It was like his face wasn't really there.

I was facing him, I wasn't going to let him get away again.

I was stupified when he just grinned and sunk into the floor. There was no portal, no visual display, no sound he just sunk in.

I looked around. I saw no sign of him. I closed my eyes to sense him and once again got nothing.

I sensed him at the last possible moment. I whipped around only to suffer two painful cuts across my chest. I stumbled back and looked at the man. Now he hovered in the air a few feet off the ground, grinning maniacally.

Well, this should be fun.


	14. Scared

Wildebeest gasped as he broke through the deck of the yacht. The cold air filled his lungs and the sudden light blinded him.

The giant man surveyed his surroundings. He was hurtling through the air towards land. From his speed it looked like he was going to land in the parking lot with the white vans. He twisted his body and prepared for the impact.

Wildebeest landed hand first. By pushing on the ground he deadened his fall and made it so nothing broke, but his bulk was still enough to send spiderweb cracks in all directions for a good distance. He rose and snorted.

Wildebeest took out his communicator. He flipped it open and tapped a button. The screen crackled to life and showed Robin's face. "Wildebeest, what's up?"

Wildebeest snorted and showed him Raven's limp form. Robin immediately understood. "Reinforcements are on the way!" The screen died. Wildebeest flipped it shut.

"Hey, Asshole!" Wildebeest quickly turned towards the voice.

It was a man on the boat. Wildebeest couldn't make out any details but he wore a pin stripe suit and a fedora. Even with the distance Wildebeest could tell the man was grinning wildly.

The man leapt off of the boat and into the air. When he did so Wildebeest could have sworn that the boat rocked a little.

Wildebeest followed the man's ascent with his eyes. He tore skyward a solid forty feet before he began plummeting to the earth. When he did strike it was impressive.

The man curled himself into a ball and slammed the ground driving into it. Cracks tore out dozens of feet in all directions, some crack large enough to trip in. Giant slabs of concrete lifted out of the ground near his feet, twisting upwards and obscuring his frame. The man had made a crater three feet deep in solid concrete. The shock made Wildebeest jump a little.

The man began to extract himself from the pit. He crawled up and over the giant slabs of rock. "I think you hav-" He was cut short by a sudden fist slamming into his face.

The sudden force of the blow was sufficient to send him flying ten feet. A punch with that much power to it would have knocked back a speeding semi. Wildebeest had held nothing back. He remembered this man as being Comet, the leader of the Broken Moon Crime Organization. From the files he read this was a very powerful man.

Which is why he wasn't surprised when Comet rose back to his feet. He rubbed his hand along his lip and wiped off a small trickle of blood. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and flashed his jackal-like grin that was stained crimson. "I do believe you have something that belongs to me." He outstretched his hand "Now be a good little animal and give it back."

Wildebeest grunted and charged at Comet. Comet assumed a ready pose. Wildebeest thrust in with a powerful jab but Comet merely raised a palm to block the blow. Wildebeest followed it up with hook, but it was once again blocked.

Comet did something unexpected. He clamped his hands onto Wildebeest's fists and pushed. Wildebeest was caught off guard for a moment but then set his feet and pushed back. They began grinding, neither one able to gain the leverage necessary to move the other. It was actually quite comical, the titanic mound of muscle pitted against the rather small man that was Comet.

Then Wildebeest was caught off guard. Comet grinned widely and shifted his weight and began pulling. Wildebeest tumbled forward over the man. Comet leaned back and flashed a foot upward into Wildebeest's gut. The sudden pain caused Wildebeest to lose his grip on Comet and the force sent him tumbling.

Wildebeest skidded to a halt a good twenty feet away, face down in the pavement. He snorted and rolled onto his back and gasped.

Comet was plummeting down on him, his fist reeled back for a devastating punch. Wildebeest began to reflexively roll away, but stopped and pulled back his hands.

Comet swung down on his prone foe, and his fist met another. Wildebeest had used his longer reach to stop Comet's attack dead, and then followed up with his own. Wildebeest grabbed Comet's leg and swung him, using him as a counterweight to regain his footing.

Now on his feet Wildebeest began to swing Comet like a ragdoll. His limp form smashed repeatedly into the pavement. Wildebeest wandered over to the fence and began crashing him into steel fenceposts, bending them at odd angles and in some cases shattering them entirely. After several minutes of this treatment Wildebeest hurled him into the air. Comet peaked at about seventy feet and then crashed into the concrete, once again spreading cracks and making a crater.

Wildebeest panted and wiped his brow. He was lathered in sweat. His arms ached. He had overexerted himself, hoping to end the fight quickly. His heart sunk when he saw his adversary rise from the dust and broken rock.

Comet was in bad shape. His suit was torn and ripped in many places. His hat was long gone and at one point he had lost a shoe and almost an entire pantleg. His face had some bruises, but he was still grinning. He started leaning on a protrusion of concrete.

"Your good." He wiped more blood from his mouth. "I'm almost at my maximum weight and you tossed me around like a kitten. Too bad I'm only a little worse for wear and your huffing and puffing like a hooker on a busy night. But I digress, it's time I get that crystal, and for you to die" He was grinning during this whole speech.

Wildebeest growled.

"I thought you'd say that." He tightened his grip on the stone, and then spun and hurled it at the beastial man.

Wildebeest was caught off guard and took the missile right in the snout. He stumbled back as blood began to leak from his nose. He shook his head and by the time he regained his senses Comet was upon him again.

* * *

The bastard just floated there, grinning, watching me bleed. 

I grit my teeth and pulsed energy, healing the cuts on mybody. Within a second the wounds I had suffered moments ago were only a memory and scars.

Yet the grin did not leave his face. If anything he smiled wider, if that was possible.

I yelled and charged the smiling man. I swiped sideways but only met air as he hovered a few more feet upwards and over my cut. I reversed my claw and hopped myself skyward, moving up about six feet and slashed again. This time he parried the blow and cut in with his other sickle, only to meet my glowing shield. Several more swings were exchanged, none hitting, before I started to fall to the ground.

I thumped hard on the metal surface and whirled around without missing a beat. I had my Glock drawn.

Only he wasn't there, no trace. I lowered my weapon and glanced around.

I saw nothing, but heard a slight chuckle. I aimed my gun in the direction of the noise and fired. I missed, but for the briefest of periods I saw what I would need. My flashlight. I slowly started walking towards it, trying to act like I was just meandering. I heard the chuckle again.

I reached the flashlight. I ducked down to retrieve it and held it parallel to my pistol. I scanned the ship again but came up with nothing. I sighed and took a different tactic.

I focused on my life sense. I extended it out as far as possible, scanning everything around me in a fifty foot radius but came up with nothing.

I felt a searing pain in my spine that ended quickly. I tumbled to the cold metal floor and screamed. When I finally looked up the Sickle Man was standing over me, holding up a blade that was dripping crimson.

I tried to get up but found that my legs would not respond.I cursed. The son of a bitch had severed my spine. Nothing I couldn't fix but it would take time,and time I didn't have. I began channeling power to fix the break and keep myself from fainting. I turned towards the man in front of me and palmed my glock and flashlight. I would have fired but I was at an awkward angle. To properly shoot I would need to use my other hand to brace myself, but it was holding the flashlight. I decided to merely threaten him with it for the moment.

He raised the tip of his blade and positioned it over his mouth. The crimson droplets began to steadily fall into his mouth. When one of them hit he shuddered. Within moments he was done and lowered the blade, smiling and licking his lips like he just had a very good steak and wanted to get every possible bit of flavor out of it.

He spoke "You know, when I first tasted you I was shocked. Never before have I tasted blood like yours. At first it was foul, a god awful flavor, but after a few minutes I began to detect slight undertones. The aftertaste was pleasant and it left behind a plethora of wonders that made you desire more."

Yeah, keep talking asshole, just give me the chance to get back on my feet. The vertbrae was done fixing it self, now to position it.

"You can tell alot about a person by the taste of their blood. Their personality, their desires, their past, and most of all their sins."

I spoke up "Sins?"

He smirked and replied "Oh yes hero, sins. They are what dominate the initial flavor. An innocent tastes sweet, like a summer wine made from crushed berries but often possess little complexity or aftertaste. Meanwhile a sinner's blood is far more complex. It is an acquired taste."

"And what does my blood taste like?" I had to keep him talking, my spine was just about healed. All that remained was reattaching the nerves.

He laughed "Your blood is the most complex thing I have ever tasted. Initially it is foul, but that is only if you are unprepared for it. Yours is a flavor most complex. The inital flavor is amazing, possessing so many flavors, so many sins and good deeds in your lifetime is astounding. I detect murder, altruism, joy, pain-"

I lunged at him and swung making contact with the ranting man. My claw bit his arm but didn't go as deep as I wanted. It stopped at the bone. He shrieked and swung with his opposite sickle but only met my shield. I rolled my arm and grabbed his wrist, holding him in place. I then began to mercilessly slam him in the gut with my knee. He coughed and sputtered, his sickles clattered to the floor as I continued my assault.

He fell to his knees, and kept falling. He began to pass through the bottom of the boat. I was still gripped hard to his arm and slammed my knuckled into the metal. I wasn't hurt but it stung.

I then heard the laughing again, except now it was more of a mocking tone. I bent down and grabbed his sickles. They were heavy and still slick with my blood.

I focused on the sound, trying to pinpoint it's location, but in this dark and spacious hold that was difficult. Sound bounced wildly and echoes were everywhere. He could have been three feet behind me and I would have never of known.

I gave up on hearing him out and instead scanned the hold with my light, once again coming up with nothing. I cursed loudly and began to think.

Okay, this was only some dude who could fly, phase through anything, see through anything because he knew exactly where I was in this rust bucket, and was very skilled with his weapons, oh yeah and he can learn about me from drinking my blood.I've fought worse.

I sensed him at last on the far side of the hold. My hands were full, and I didn't want to lose him so I did the only thing I could. I hurled the sickles at the direction my senses were telling me. I saw the flash in the meager light as they tumbled over to their targets.

I heard a gasp and then silence save the echoes reverberating in the room.

* * *

Wildebeest hurled himself back just in time to avoid Comet's diving swing. They both landed awkwardly, neither truly expected the swing to miss. 

Comet regained his footing and leapt at the beast man again. Wildebeest once again used his greater reach to lash out at him. He slammed Comet with a double fisted crush that drove him into the concrete, further damaging the ground.

Comet staggered to his hands and knees, only to be knocked back down again from another overhead smash from Wildebeest. The enormous man continued with his assault, driving Comet into a deep crater in the ground.

Comet was mad. He grit his teeth and furrowed his brow, his eyes got a mad gleam to them. He waited until Wildebeest took an upswing and pushed against the ground with his palms and flipping into the air, in the process he slammed his opponent in the face with a powerful kick that sent him stumbling away. Comet landed on his feet with a snarl.

Neither were in good shape. Comet was disheveled, bleeding in a few places, and looked mad as hell. His jaw was clenched and he was breathing heavy, sending long puffs of vapor into the air. Wildebeest only had a few bruises, and he looked calm and collected, albeit he too was breathing heavy. He snorted hard, sending rings of vapor into the cold January air.

Comet yelled and charged once again. Wildebeest lanced out with a powerful thrust to force Comet back, but his fist was met with aheavy fist, cancelling out it's momentum and deadening the blow. Comet came up with an uppercut that struck his adversary in the cheek.

Wildebeest stumbled to the side and tasted blood on the inside of his cheek. He shifted his weight and retaliated with a swipe to his arm that made him lean to the side.

And so it continued for many minutes, both sides striking with all the force they could muster against the other. Comet slashid in with a chop to Wildebeest's shoulder, only to recieve an anvil-like fist in his ribs in return, and then he lanced out with kick to Wildebeest's kidney. Neither side blocked a single blow, it was pure offense. Total aggression being matched with equal aggression. Someone who was watching might say it was metaphoric, a struggle that seemed to have no end.

Only it was going to end, and Wildebeest knew it. He was tiring, and quickly. Not even his body could stand up to this kind of punishment. He couldn't simply back away, Comet would follow and gain too big of an advantage. So that left only one option.

Wildebeest blocked a heavy punch from Comet with his forearm, and raised his arm back for a devastating overhead smash. Comet saw this and was forced to raise his arms overhead to block, only the strike didn't come. Wildebeest reversed his strike and delivered an enormous haymaker directly to his gut, sending Comet flying into one of the vans, and then into another one, disappearing into the ruined hulk of metal.

Wildebeest took the chance to breath. It was then that he noticed the men aboard the ship. It was the rest of Comet's cronies. The men had heard the fight and come out to check, and upon seeing the brawl decided to watch. Now that their leader had fallen they changed their minds and decided to join in. They all sighted longarms in on Wildebeest's enormous frame.

Wildebeest's eyes widened as the bullets began to fly.

* * *

I flipped on my flashlight and scanned the hold. I saw no sign of the man or the sickles. I swore loudly. 

I ran over to the shaft of light coming from the break. As long as he was gone I could at least take the fight to a more hospitable location. I coiled my legs for a jump.

I gasped when I saw my portal to escape quickly closing. Somebody was sliding something over it. I quickly pulsed energy to my legs and hopped.

I struck the cover, which turned out to be a steel plate, with a loud clang. I dizzily fell to the floor and when I struck I made another such clang ironically.

I wasn't seriously hurt. I only had a bump on my head and a bruise on my back. They healed with barely a thought.

I was rubbing my recently departed bump, and froze when I heard a chuckle.

I shook my fear away and drew my Glock. The chuckle continued, then became a light laugh, then a hearty guffaw, and then a full on maniacal cackle. The kind youthink Charlie Manson would make if his plan had actually worked. It sent shivers up my newly repaired spine. I fervently scanned the hold with my light.

Then something I did not expect in the least. I actually saw him. His arms were crossed over his chest, holding his sickles that were now totally clean. He stopped his laughter and put on a new face, he wasn't grinning, but rather had a soft smirk that made him seem even more frightening.

For a moment I was too startled to fire, and that moment was my undoing. He flashed his hands out and hurled his blades. I gasped and raised my arm to block, deflecting one off into the deep darkness of the ship. The other struck something far more important.

The blade slashed my flashlight, neatly slice off the tip and cutting the bulb in two. In the last second of light I saw him holding his arms out and looking so triumphant it sickened me.

I was scared. I'm man enough to admit it, I was terrified. Not only did this man possess incredible powers and skills, but he was toying with me. Cutting me in places that weren't fatal so he could hear my pain and watch me bleed.

I panted, almost hyperventilating. I concentrated to try and stay rational, and failed. I was freaking out.

I was cut again, this time my hamstrings on my right knee. I collapsed in pain.

He chuckled more. "Back before I was rudely interrupted. I detect murder, altruism, joy, pain, mostly pain however, both physical and mental." I heard a soft splat, the sound of him tasting more blood. "Mmm, ahh, there is more. Guilt, apathy, and betrayal, a very harsh betrayal. But wait, the betrayal is linked to something important, ahh, love."

I tensed.

Another splat "Oh, it seems the love is linked to so many other things as well. Most everything is linked to the feeling of love you have. It's an important element to the flavor but is somehow hidden, but without it the other tastes wouldn't fit. Curious."

I rose to my feet and drew my Glocks. I focused my energies on finding him once more.

"This love is intense, powerful, but it seems old, and yet new. Like it died long ago but you still feel for her. Did she dump you boy? Or did you leaver her? Did she die? Did you kill her?"

"SHUT UP!" I began firing out of anger. The hold was lit up by my muzzle flashes, bright lights showing nothing but shadows and nothing of the man hiding in them.

"I can almost tell her name. Kara, no. Katie, no. Cathy, no."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME! DON'T YOUFUCKINGDARE!" I was screaming fiercely. I began firing again, but this time I caught glimpses of him. He was darting about the hold, grinning wildly, saying names that I barely heard. I kept firing at his last position only to find him standing in a new place from the flash. My bullets punched through the hull and thin streams of icy water started pouring in and pooling at my feet. I saw him off to my left and fired, only to see that he had moved just a few inches in front of me. I swiveled my gun and

"Click"

I was empty.

Then he said the one name that mattered.

"Cassandra"

You could almost hear me snap.

* * *

Raven awoke with a start, rising to a sitting position holding her head. 

The last thing she remembered was being knocked to the side by Reaver, and then seeing him get cut by something from behind her. Then she hit her head and was knocked out.

She heard gunfire and looked up to see Wildebeest crouching behind an upturned white van while bullets peppered the other side of it. He seemed at a loss of what to do.

Raven started to move and then felt it. A powerful rage, one that was so powerful it caused the demon side of her soul to ache and burn. As if it was fueled and given power just by her proximity to it.

It was coming from the inside of the boat, from inside of Reaver. Raven gasped. She had only felt this kind of rage come from higher demons. It was near impossible for a human to have this kind of hate.

A bullet pelted the ground next to her, jolting her back to reality and what was going on around her. She began to float a few inches off of the ground and flew over to Wildebeest. He grunted a greeting, she nodded in response.

"Follow my lead" And at that her hands started to glow grey.

The van protecting them was encased in obsidian power and flew at the gunmen. They all gasped and four were swatted away by the enormous bludgeon. The rest gaped at their fallen companions.

Another two were taken out by Wildebeest when he landed on the deck and slammed two of them into the ground. The remaining six leveled their weapons and opened fire on the hulking brute, only to be stopped by adome of black surrounding their target.

The gunman ceased fire, realizing that the dome would stop anything they shot. Instead they began to search for the Sorceress who was the cause for the shield.

They did not notice the dome shimmer, and tear into six separate strips that then lashed out and wrapped around each of the thugs, completely restricting them. Raven hovered into their view, one hand glowing. With a wave of her palm all six men hit against something, knocking all of them unconscious.

Wildebeest snorted.

Raven nodded.

Then Wildebeest was hit in the face with a chunk of concrete the size of a car door.

Wildebeest stumbled to the side, and fell. His injuries and fatigue was finally catching up to him, and he could not simply shrug off such a blow anymore. Raven floated over to him and knelt down.

"Hey kiddies! Guess who just woke up from his nap!" She heard from the parking lot. Raven's eyes widened.

"Come on down and say hello to old Comet."

Raven's hand glowed gray and she pressed them to her allies skin. Muscles repaired, bones mended, and bruises healed. One second Wildebeest was laying on the ground feeling very tired, the next he felt the best he had all day. Through it all Raven grimaced, and bore the pain of her allies injuries.

She was going to need him.

* * *

I slashed forward instinctively, getting the clang of metal on metal for my efforts. I heard the metal of his sickle vibrate from the force of my blow.

I followed it up and never stopped swinging, and he never stopped blocking. Later I would wonder how I knew he was there at all, but at the moment I was more concerned with ripping off this man's head.

I swung faster than most people can see. My claw scraped along his sickle and produced a shower of sparks and for a second I could see him, this monster, this Sindrinker, and he was afraid.


	15. Disgusted

I swung and swung. My claws making terrible screeching sounds as they grated along his blades. Bright showers of sparks briefly illuminated the hold before the glowing points were extinguished in the knee deep water on the floor. I was panting, as was my adversary.

I lanced out with a powerful thrust, but the Sindrinker dodged to the left and slashed at my arm. I interposed my buckler and his swing bounced off. I quickly reversed my arm's momentum and bitchslapped him with my shield. The energy stored inside it pulsed and he was hurled across the hold like a missile. He thumped heavily into the metal wall and plunged beneath the water. He rose sputtering and gasping from the cold.

I didn't give him the chance to recover. I strode over and grabbed the evil man by the scruff of his shirt. He gasped and I began to pummel him in the face. To his credit he did not make a sound for the first two strikes, then he grunted with each hit, and began to scream. I'm glad I couldn't see his face.

After a solid two minutes of my savage beating I dropped him back into the icy water. He did not rise, only lifted his head above the water and began groaning.

I rose to strike again, but pulled back from the fatal blow. I remembered what Robin had said, how mad he was when I had killed those thugs. How mad he was when I did what I had to do to save Starfire.

For a moment I considered to throw caution to the wind and skin him, then the next moment I decided against it, then the next I was for it, it was maddening. I took a few steps away and fumed.

I rose my hand to my head and took a deep breath. It didn't help. I shouted and ran at the Sindrinker, kicking him hard in the ribs. He tumbled away and fell once more into the water.

I paced back and forth, my steps made enormous ripples in the water. "Why would you do something like that? If all that pain was linked to her why would you say her name? Hmmm? HMMMM!?" A sputtering cough was his only response.

"Why would you seek to anger my like that? WHY!?" I shouted into the darkness of the room and once again got no response.

"ANSWER ME! ANSWER ME DAMN YOU!" I strode in like I was going to kick him again.

"To play with you" I halted. I heard him rising to his feet.

"I wanted to see how you would react. How such a small word would affect you. From what I gathered it was a toss up between a furious tantrum or an all consuming sadness."

I drew my pistol and aimed where he last was. "Is that all?"

"Your a complicated person Reaver. I desired to know more about you, to get inside your head. That first drop of bloodwas amazing, and a person only gets more flavorful the more I know and understand them. Nothing is sweeter than the blood of a person you truly love." I couldn't see but I'm sure he was grinning.

"So you love people to devour them. You sick bastard."

"It's not by choice mind you. My powers demand that I do this, sacrificing people to get power. We think along the same lines don't we Reaver?"

"Don't you dare think that you know me. Don't you fucking dare." I flicked the safety on my glock.

"Now is not the time for one of us to die Reaver. You don't want to kill me because that will make you nothing more than a cold blooded killer, and I don't want to kill you because I need to know you. I need to learn about what makes you tick. So for now, farewell."

At that he darted up to theroof. I snarled and leapt up against the roof, my claw flashing.

* * *

Comet began whistling calmly. "Come on Titans, let's go! I got enough steam left to take down a goth chick and an over sized antelope." He cracked his knuckles. 

The two came down off the boat. Wildebeests heavy feet thudded onto the ground as Raven gracefully floated down with gray hands of power. Comet grinned.

The three stood off for a moment.

Raven made the first move. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Crackling whips of power swung out and sliced into the concrete and began tearing about wildly, kicking up a flurry of snow and pavement particles. Comet shielded himself with his arms and bore the brunt of it, grinning the whole time.

Raven ended her assault and gaped. The concrete was covered in a latticework of cuts and rips, criss crossing and separating and combining into themselves. It normally would have been beutiful, but for one major flaw. There was a large space of uncut stone in a perfect outline of Comet's body, like a shadow that caught almost every detail.He stood in the center, his suit damaged but not even scratched himself, the whips hadn't even forced him to close his eyes. He lowered his arms and promptly caught Wildebeest's fist in the face.

Comet grunted and stepped back out of the latticework of cuts and shook his head. Wildebeest swung again but Comet dodged to the side and grabbed the large man's arm. Wildebeest pulled back, but found that he could not break his arm free. He planted his feet firmly and pulled back with all his might, grunting under the strain. He coiled his legs to force the hold.

Comet chuckled, and released his hold. Wildebeest suddenly found himself pulling against nothing, and flew back a good thirty feet, clipping Raven's foot in the process and making her pinwheel with a shout. Wildebeest then flew over the dock and into the icy waters below.

Raven righted herself and barely noticed Comet descending upon her like a hawk on a mouse. She paniced and rose a forcefield between the two of them. Comet struck it hard, not at all expecting what had happened. Raven made use of his surprise by reversing the field and wrapping it around Comet like an obsidian blanket. She grunted from the strain of holding him, sweat beading her brow. Within a second she lost her hold and Comet's limp form slammed into the concrete sending even more spiderweb cracks.

"Nice trickchild, but I'm too heavy." Comet kipped to his feet like it was nothing, cracking the ground even further.

"Nice trick yourself. Shifting mass out of your upper body and increasing mass in your legs so you had the strength for that jump." Raven droned

Comet grinned. "Ahh, so you figured me out. Smart girl, too smart." Comet's face suddenly went ashen as he leapt at the dark girl with all the power he could muster.

Raven calmly lashed out with two more whips of black energy, cutting across his chest. She then rolled the side and out of the way. Comet landed heavily once more, and staggered clutching at his chest. He turned around.

Two thin lines of red had appeared on his chest, clearly visible in the tatters of his suit. He looked at Raven with hatred in his eyes. "How the hell?"

"You decrease the mass in your upper body to jump remember? And since your mass decreases, I can hurt you easily." Raven smirked.

Comet just grinned. "You really are smart aren't you. Very well, so I can't jump at you, big deal. I can still hit you." Comet ran in and swung, but only met air as Raven simply floated upwards and out of reach. Comet cursed loudly.

"Oh yeah you can fly." He sarcastically said. "Oh well, I can still pound the crap out of your friend. Now where is he?" Comet looked about fervently.

At this moment Wildebeest had finally crawled out of the water. He was panting, shivering, dripping, and overall looking rather miserable. Nevertheless he took a fighting pose, and snorted heavily. Comet laughed.

"What a trooper. You know the punishment I put you through would have broke a tank. But I'm guessing you don't care." Wildebeest only growled in response.

Comet came at him once more. He ran at the beast-man and flipped up into a kick that caught Wildebeest right in the chin. He flew a few feet into the air and stopped dead. Both Comet and Wildebeest gasped.

Wildebeest's entire body was covered in black. He was then slowly lowered to the ground, but the black did not dissipate.

Raven was floating about thirty feet over the fight, her eyes and hands glowing. Wildebeest raised an obsidian brow to look at her. She nodded, then he nodded, and oddly enough smiled.

Comet was backing up, aghast. "Oh no, oh hell no." Wildebeest nodded and was upon him in a second.

* * *

"You are not going anywhere!" I flashed up with my claw and grabbed Sindrinker's foot. My blades bit into his appendage and drew a thin stream of blood. He gasped as I hung from his leg and began to climb. 

I didn't notice the blood pouring from his foot onto me. I sputtered as the stream moved onto my face and bled in my eyes. I sputtered and turned my head, and unfortunately some got in my mouth.

At first I barely noticed it. Just a very slight bitterness in the back of my throat that soon became a very powerful bitterness. I paused as I noticed it for the first time, and then it hit me full bore.

It felt like my tongue had betrayed me. I cried out and let go of his foot. I clutched at my throat as I tumbled to the icy waters. Upon reaching them I opened my mouth wide, trying to let the salt of the ocean drown out the terrible taste as my vomit began to pour from my throat like a hose, and was grateful for something to possibly overtake the vile taste.

Oh that's right, it tasted worse than vomit, much worse.

I didn't stop vomiting, even after I had run out of things in my stomach I started to vomit up a foul concoction of blood and other body fluids, turning the water around me into some sort of terrible soupfrom hell

Words aren't exactly appropriate for describing it. If I had to describe it, it would be something so bitter that it did not seem of this world, yet at the same time it was so sickeningly sweet it was like eating the carmalized blood of an angel. So many different flavors overlapping and weaving in on themselves forming into some endless pattern of taste. I collapsed and writhed like I was on fire.

I managed to grab some semblance of sanity at that moment and grabbed my tongue with my hand and brought up my claw. If I had no tongue, I couldn't taste.

The only thing that stopped me was a voice. "That will do no good."

I turned away from my self massacre to be blinded by a sudden light. I saw Sindrinker standing in the thigh deep water holding a blazing flare. In the sudden light I could see him clearly, and he looked almost piteous. Like he was sorry for me. "Removing your tongue will do no good. You will still taste it." I let go of the offending muscle and looked at him bug eyed.

"That was the taste of my blood, terrible no?" I nodded "To be honest I'm sorry you went through that. Don't worry it will fade with time. I'm amazed you didn't kill yourself."

I finally found the strength to talk. "Why the hell did it taste like that?"

"You tasted my sins, my evils, my wrongdoings, everything, all the way from the day I was born."

The flavor was fading, now it was only akin to eating charred feces. I rose to my feet and began regenerating the damage to my insides. I looked around at the cloud of foulness in the water around me. I jumped and moved away from the filth. I felt lighter.

I landed with an enormous splash and turned back to my adversary. He stood there, the pitying look on his face still.

"You don't want to fight me Reaver. I know you don't. I been reading your blood, and in this situation you don't want to fight me." He paused "And you know I don't want to fight you."

I got ready to jump but stopped. Of course I didn't want to fight him, this man had been handing me my ass for the last ten minutes, he had no reason to not want to fight me. Yet somehow I knew he spoke the truth. How did I know that?

I didn't get my answers as he flew upwards, disappearing through the ceiling faster than I could react.


	16. Furious

Comet was in dire straits.

He fell back as a superpowered Wildebeest slammed him in the face again. He followed it up with a solid uppercut to his stomach. All the air expelled from Comet's lungs and he hopped back gasping.

Wildebeest didn't give him the chance to recover and followed him. Comet weakly defendedbut in the end couldn't really stop him as Wildebeest picked him up by his neck and slowly began to strangle him.

Raven was concentrating hard. Maintaining the shield around Wildebeest was an arduous task, but she was up for it. In this state Comet couldn't really do anything against him, the black energy guarded him against any counter attacks and she was applying her own telekinetic strength to his punches. The two were battering down the man.

Wildebeest continued his hold, depriving Comet of air. Comet was already starting to black out. The wind had gotten knocked out of him so he didn't have any air to tide him over. Comet's gaze was darkening... until he got lucky.

Comet had been spasming and flailing about, his body activating it's survival instincts. And his foot happened to sail up and strike his opponent right in the face.

The blow wasn't enough to make Wildebeest lose his grip, but it was enough for Comet to hook his foot onto Wildebeest's neck. Comet swung up his other foot and latched it onto the other side of Wildebeest's neck. Comet used this as a brace and began to slam Wildebeest's snout like a jackhammer. After a few seconds of this abuse he let go and Comet's heavy form slammed to the ground as Wildebeest stumbled back and rubbed his nose. A second later they were back at it.

Wildebeest lanced in with a heavy punch that was deflected to the side. Comet slid to the right and began hammering on Wildebeest's side with a flurry of powerful punches. Wildebeest grunted in pain and swung with a heavy sideways swing. Comet crouched low and leaned forward to avoid it, and then did a grasshopper jump into the air.

This wasn't a super jump that would have let him kiss the sky mind you, rather it was a human like jump that only got him a few feet off the ground. Comet flipped forward and straightened his leg out, and slammed it onto the top of Wildebeest's head. Wildebeest let out an animalistic squeal of pain and fell to the ground, forming another crater in the battle scarred concrete. Comet grinned once more.

Right up until an obsidian horn struck his chin. Wildebeest had bucked his head up and nailed Comet dead on with one of his horns. Comet screamed and stumbled back, rubbing his jawline as a tiny spot of red appeared on it.Wildbeest smugly smirked.

Comet said "What, are you proud of this shaving cut you gave me? Are you satisfied that it took both of your combined efforts to hurt me? You make me laugh." And then Comet did.

Wildebeest's smug face was replaced with a determined one as he came at Comet once more.

* * *

I stood in the hold of the ship for a second, not sure what had happened. After I had gotten mad I had been able to see his life clearly, clear enough to fight him. But then suddenly he was gone and I could see nothing. 

I mutely cursed and drew my gun and fired a shot. With the flash of light I saw where the cover had been put on the hole. I hoped my memory was good enough and I jumped up to the ceiling and drove my claw into the edge of the hole, anchoring myself to the ceiling. I flipped up and slammed my feet into the ceiling.

A moment later I learned that I had been wrong in my memory of where the cover was. My feet struck a solid portion of the ceiling and pulled my claw out in the process. I fell flailing into the icy water. Man, that's like the fifth time in that hour.

I rose from the frigidness sputtering once more. The cold was really getting to me. I looked around and saw five tiny pinpricks of light escaping through the holes made by my claws.

I sighed and exasperately fired off another round. In the flash I saw that I had been off by only a foot with my last attempt. I frustratedly hit my head with my palm.

I pulled the same trick I had before and I was finally free from my dank prison. I looked around at my new surroundings.

It seemed that I had thrown Wildebeest through a door that that was built into the deck. Since this was a luxury vessel the only thing betraying the door's presence was a pair of handles on the deck. There was probably a ladder inside the shipso you could reach the bottom.

I turned to the dock and surveyed the battleground. The concrete of the parking lot was cracked and torn like some sort of intricate puzzle. Large craters were testamount to the great power that was being used by the three combatants. Comet lookedhaggard and damaged, and he was battling an obsidian coated Wildebeest blow for blow. Raven hovered above it all, breathing heavy from the exertion of maintaining the shield around Wildebeest. At the moment it looked like things could go either way. I didn't like that, time to become the deciding factor.

I hefted the door to the hold and crouched low to avoid anyone noticing me. I waited for a precise moment. Wildebeest thrust Comet in the gut, and Comet responded with foot to Wildebeest's face, but Wildebeest caught it and pushed him back. Comet kept his balance but he was stumbling back. I saw my chance.

I hurled the door with everything I had. It flew perfectly and crashed into Comet's face, crumpling like cardboard and wrapping around the man's head. Wildebeest and Raven were surprised at the sudden aid.

Comet yanked the ruin of the door off of his face and gazed balefully at where it came from, and got an eyeful of me hurtling at him like a bullet. I thrust my naked fingers at him, and got him right in the eyes.

I continued forward with my momentum and rolled to a stop a good ten feet behind Comet.I smirked, and Comet began to howl.

"AAUGGGHHH! MY EYES! YOU BASTARDS! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY EYES!? AAUGGGHHH!" Comet clutched his eyeballs ans began rolling around on the ground, writhing in pain.

Wildebeest ran over to me as Raven landed near me. "Reaver, what did you do?" She was staring daggers my way.

"Calm down. I just blinded him a little. After he stops wailing he'll be able to see, not well mind you but he'll be able to. It isn't permanent, a little medical attention and he'll be fine. Believe me, it's not as bad as he's making it out to be. Now he's just being a baby." I calmly explained.

Comet rose to his feet. His eyes were closed and his face was a mask of intense fury. Tears streaked his face and his mouth leaked blood from shattered teeth. "Where are you? Come out! I'm gonna rip out your gizzard and piss on your corpse Reaver! COME OUT!" He lunged and tripped on a piece of rubble, collapsing to the floor heavily. I would have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic. Comet struggled to his feet and began stumbling around.

"Trust me Raven. He'll be fine. A trip to the optomitrist and a few weeks with a blindfold will fix him right up." Raven looked pensive. Like she wasn't sure what I did was such a good thing.

Then she was wailed in the gut with a slab of concrete. The impact sent her flying back and under the snow. I followed her descent, my face aghast.

I turned back to Comet. "That's it, keep talking, keep giving me a target. Come on you shitstains, keep it up." Comet turned around and grabbed another slab of rubble from the crater he was near.

I unsheathe my claw and rushed him, but Wildebeest got there first.

Wildebeest raised his hand up high for a powerful smash to Comet's skull. Unfortunately Comet heard Wildebeest's heavy tread approaching and was ready. He whipped around the hunk of concrete he was holding onto and threw it. What Comet lacked in accuracy, he made up for with the size of the projectile. It was a solid five by eight slab of rock that sailed right into Wildebeest's gut and sent him flying back.

That in itself wasn't that bad, but what really put Wildebeest down was when Comet leapt and landed on him.

I cringed as I heard Wildebeest's ribs crack loudly. Wildebeest screamed in pain, bloody spittle flying from his mouth. Comet just leaned in and put more pressure on his broken ribs.

I wouldn't stand for that. I rushed Comet and slammed into him, knocking him off of my allies chest and onto the ground. Comet looked up at me with blood shot eyes. I could tell that they were still working.

Comet was clever. He was faking most of his pain. That's why he had been laying it on so thick, to lull us into a false sense of security. He may not be able to see that well, but he could still see.

I was mad. My plan had gotten my team hurt instead of ending the fight like I planned.

Comet began to stagger to his feet, but I didn't give him the chance to do so. I leapt onto the man and began hacking wildly at his face, I worked energy into my claw and powered each strike.

Comet screamed in pain and I stopped my assault and stepped off of Comet. He rolled over and clutched his face.

I remembered what Robin had said and I crouched down to check on him. I reached my hand over to check his face, and got wailed in mine.

I stumbled back and clutched my broken face. I immediately began regenerating my nose and jaw, wiping the blood out of eyes.

Comet kipped to his feet, grinning again. "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you. I really thought you were smarter than that Man. Falling for the same trick twice in one minute. Your acting like a damn idiot."

I rose to my feet after I regenerated my face. "Come on Man, show me what you got. Show me the skills that made the great Man, master assassin, so legendary. I don't want to fight this crime fighting loser your making yourself out to be, I want to fight the legend that I tried to hire some time ago, I want to fight the person who killed over three hundred people in his career as an assassin. Come on, Man."

"My name, is Reaver."

Comet laughed. "Fine then, Reaver. If you refuse then I'll have to beat Man out of you. Then maybe I can ask him why he decided to be this goody two shoes loser I see before me, instead of the truly villainous assassin I know he is!" Comet rushed.

I ducked under his blow and slashed up with my claw, grating along his chest and upsetting the cut that Raven had given him. If he felt it, he gave no sign. Comet cut up with a kick that barely grazed my chin as I leaned back. I fell to the ground and mule kicked him in the groin. That got a reaction as Comet slumped over holding his groin. I hopped up and back.

Comet grunted and slammed his fist into the ground and ripped out a rock. He pulled back his arm and hurled it at me full bore. I raised my buckler and deflected it back at him, striking him right between the eyes and disorienting him for a second.

I drew my Glocks and loaded them. Comet shook his head just as the second clip was sliding in. He grinned. "Oh, this again? I'm too massive for those to hurt me, but you can go ahead and try." Comet stood there proudly and close his eyes to protect them. I sighted in and unleashed fire.

Comet fell to his knees and began writhing in pain, his body going through the convulsions of electric shock. These weren't the bullets that I normally fired, but rather my own creation, taser bullets. Each one packed an electric shock of about 20,000 volts. Roughly double a defribulator. And since I hit him with thirty shots he was cooked.

Only he wasn't. Comet rose a moment after my assault, smoking slightly but otherwise fine. He was still smiling that damn grin. He put himself into his fighting stance.

I holstered my guns and fumed. I was furious. No matter what I tried I couldn't take Comet down. I'd shocked him, shot him, cut him, bashed him, and done just about everything I could to him and nothing worked. It was infuriating.

At this point something that was infuriating wasn't good. I still had some leftover anger from my fight with the sindrinker and this wasn't helping. Comet had wanted to see what I was before, fine. I'll show the bastard.

I let go of my emotions, and let Fury consume me.

I've only willingly let Fury take me three times before. I regret all three, and I'd probably regret this one too. But at the moment I wasn't thinking about consequences, just killing Comet...

I dashed in and swung at Comet who raised a arm to block, but instead of deflect my claw bit into his arm. Comet gasped and pulled back, and then he saw my eyes and a look of incredible horror fell over his face. I slashed in again and grated against his ribs, causing him to shout in pain and move backwards.

Comet clutched the blood pumping from his side. He looked down at the wound, and then looked at me and uttered  
"H-how?"

I didn't answer, just ran at him and cut his arm again. Comet pulled back and jabbed me in the chest, enough to send me flying away. The terrified man started running, and I followed.

Comet ducked in between some buildings just ashort distanceaway from the dock we were fighting at. He rounded the corner and scanned the alley, and then collapsed in pain as I hamstringed him.

Comet clutched at the back of his knee and looked up and saw me standing right behind him. He began to panickedly crawl away, the back of his knee leaving a bloody streak in the snow.

He crawled about half the alley before I started to follow him. I reached my hand out and began grating my claw along the side of the alley. I dug deep trenches in the brick and kicked up a bright shower of sparks. I stalked in after the ruined man.

Comet rolled over and looked me in the eye. "C-c'mon Reaver, we-we can talk this out. I mean, your a superhero, you can't kill me."

I calmly responded "Reaver? I don't know anyone named Reaver. I'm Man, the legendary assassin. And I'm no superhero."

Comet went as pale as a ghost.

"What's wrong Comet? I thought you wanted to fight me?"

Comet began to futilely rise to his feet, only to fall back down when he accidently put weight on his ruined leg. "If you do this, you can't go back to the Titans. You won't be able to stay legit!"

"I know that, and I don't care." I was nearing him now. Only five feet separated us. "I've gone underground before, I can do it again."

"Please, don't do this! I'm begging you! Please don't kill me!" Comet cringed and covered his head with his arms.

He was suddenly jerked up by me grabbing his head and pulling it up, making him drop the guard over his face. I pulled back with my claw.

"No"

I stabbed him in the face.

And hit the brick wall behind him.

I gasped, and saw that my strike had passed directly through his head, except there was no blood. And Comet was breathing, and blinking. It was like I hadn't hit anything at all.

I noticed something, a hand poking out of the ground beside him and holding onto Comet's arm.

I sat confused for a moment, and a sickle tore out of Comet's chest and slashed my face. Once again the sickle hadn't hurt Comet.

The man began to rise, looking as bewildered as me. And then a second figure stepped out of the wall behind him, hugging Comet. A man I recognized, The Sindrinker.

I got ready to slash at him but the two of them sunk into the ground like ghosts. As if they had never even been there. The last thing I saw of Comet was him flashing that damnable grin of his.

I knelt down, and began hyperventilating.

He got away, HE GOT AWAY! I began smashing the concrete with my claw, tearing great gouges in the stone and ripping up portions of it. I plunged my hand to the elbow in the rock. tearing the skin on my hand, but I didn't care.

He got away.

No one has ever gotten away.

Noone.

* * *

Raven floated down the street as quickly as she could. 

Raven had come to a short while after Comet and Reaver had left the parking lot. She found Wildebeest and had healed his ribs. He would live, but he would have to stay inactive for a while.

The anger she was sensing was like what she felt at the fire, back when Reaver had fought Star Sapphire. Except now it was, darker. More sinister even. It was unsettling.

Raven rounded the corner of an alley and saw what she was looking for, and more. There was a line of blood in the snow halfway down the alley. The line of blood stopped at the exact point I was standing. Oddly enough I was standing in a small pit that was dug in the concrete. I had my hands out and I was leaning against the wall. My hair was obscuring my face. I made no move as Raven moved down the alley.

She droned "Reaver, what happened?" No answer.

"Are you okay? Reaver?"

No answer.

"Reaver, answer me"

No answer

"Reaver?"

"He got away"

Raven stopped in her tracks. I had made no move. My voice was husky and quiet.

"He was right in the palm of my hand and I let him get away. Him and that damn friend of his."

"No matter. I will find him, and I will end this. No more games. No more tricks. When I see him next I will strike, and I will look into his eyes as he dies."

"Reaver, you can't do that. You know you can't."

"I can and I will."

"Reaver listen to me" Raven put her hand on my shoulder and began to turn me around "I know what-" She stopped abruptly as she looked at me.

My face was a calm and icy mask of controlled rage.The cut on my face was bleeding, a thin horizontal slice across my upper lip that leaked rivulets of crimson down my face. That was unsettling in itself, but what was truly frightful were my eyes.

Normally I had dark blue eyes, but now they were different, very different. The entire orb wasa deep crimson, like thick blood, almost black in it's color. The only thing that could possibly pass for any discerning mark would be a hellish flickering light from deep within the orbs. Like an inner fire that wanted out so that it could burn everything.

Raven took a deep breath. "Your eyes, how did your eyes..."

"These are the eyes of my Fury, the eyes of my evil side little girl. These are the eyes of the assassin, of the cold blooded killer that is Reaver."

Raven regained herself "I don't think that's true."

"Isn't it Raven? You don't know the things I've done. The people I've killed."

"You may be a murderer, but your not a cold blooded killer. A cold blooded killer wouldn't have spared Star Sapphire's life, a cold blooded killer wouldn't have not killed Gizmo."

I was silent.

"You may have been that once, but you aren't anymore. If you really are as bad as you say then you wouldn't have joined the Titans. You wouldn't have turned down that contract on us. You wouldn't have turned down that contract on us. And you wouldn't have fought so fiercely to protect us when you could have easily run away."

I still gave no response.

"I don't know what you've been through, but it hasn't made you into a cold blooded killer. Far from it, I see you as a passionate crusader. A person with a sense of logic and a calm rational mind who can still tell jokes and enjoy himself."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them again they were back to their normal.

"Thank you Raven. I needed that. I guess-"

I was cut off by Raven slapping me in the face.

I kept my head turned to the side like that for a solid minute before I turned back.

"I guess I deserved that. Sorry about the way I acted Raven."

Raven snarled "Sorry doesn't even begin to cut it. You swore to kill a man Reaver, and you almost did that right here."

I sheepishly looked away. "Listen, right before that I had a whole bunch of old memories dredged up by him and his ghosty friend. I wasn't in the best of moods, and well things just came together and I snapped, okay."

"I want you to promise me something Reaver. Promise me that you won't fight Comet again."

I shot back "You know I can't do that. If I see him again I have to bring him down, or at least try."

'No you don't. Call the others, hide from him, I don't care what. Just don't fight him. He does something to you Reaver, and I won't risk you doing something you will regret." She stood up straight and crossed her armsas if to give her sentence more finality.

I opened my mouth to argue, but then closed it. I understood where she was coming from and why she would want this, and I wasn't really in a position to argue. "Allright Raven, I'll do just that. I promise not to fight Comet again."

* * *

Later that night, main lounge of the Tower.

The reinforcements had shown up while Raven was chewing me out. We came back to find them and several police officers cleaning the place up. We carted Wildebeest into the infirmary. Raven had done everything she could for him but he still needed some time to heal. Raven was devoid of serious injuries and any I had I could take care of. The remainder of the day had been spent doing paperwork and trying to track down where the two of them had gone.

Robin was asking questions about what had happened. He was currently getting Raven's version of the story. I was sitting at my old blood stain on the couch and drinking one of my regeneration shakes. It was just the three of us in the room.

"And then when we got back we found that the others had arrived and we gave the police our report and came back here."

"Alright, thanks Raven." He jotted something down on his notepad "Reaver I'm going to need your version now."

I set down my shake. "Robin can I give it to you later? I'm beat. I've had a long day"

"I'd really like to get your story while it's fresh in your mind. It won't take long."

"Come on man, I'm almost dead here." I slumped my shoulders.

Robin's mask narrowed, "Alright, I'll be in your room in an hour. Get some rest."

"Thank you" I gave a very slight bow and began to stride out of the room. My cats were following on my heels.

After I had left Robin looked down at his notes and sighed. "So, what else is there you want to tell me?"

"What?"

"Come on Raven. We've known eachother for the last three years, I can read you. Your hiding something from me, something involving Reaver I'm guessing."

Raven pulled down her hood. "You know me too well Robin. There is something else, and yes it does involve Reaver."

* * *

I was sitting in my den room when the door to my main room opened. It was exactly an hour after I had departed from the main room.

Robin strode into the shadows of the room. I was reading from one of my many books by candle light. I didn't look up when he came in.

"Reaver, I have some questions."

I reached over and took a sip of the drink on my table. I saw that I had finished it off and poured myself another glass. "Sure Robin. Sit, would you like a drink?" I held up the bottle of scotch on the table next to me.

"Your drinking?! Why are you drinking?" Robin looked totally surprised.

"I've hada long day, so I'm ending it with a little scotch. What's the problem? I'm twenty-one."

"I know that but... alcohol isn't allowed in the Tower."

I raised an eyebrow. "It isn't? I didn't read anything about that in the rules. As far as I knew I had to just obey city laws and a few house rules. I didn't read anything about alcohol."

"Well... that's not what I'm here to talk to you about!"

"Fair enough, sit." I gestured at my extra chair. Robin sat down.

"Now what was it you wanted?" I took a sip from my Scotch and water.

"Raven told me about what happened with Comet. How you threatened him." Robin scowled.

I wasn't outwardly phased. "Yes I expected as much." I set down my glass.

"And?"

"And what?"

"Explain yourself! Why you promised to kill him, why you let him get away!"

"I didn't let him get away. I made a choice, a choice that saved three lives. Raven, Wildebeest, and myself."

"And what choice was that Reaver?"

"To become the assassin again. To become Man."


	17. Revealed

Raven was once again on the Tower, meditating.

The innards of the Tower had been overrun with their current guests, and she couldn't even get total peace and quiet in the dark solitude of her room. The frigid roof of the tower had been her only respite from the noise. She barely felt the chilling cold, so great was her meditation.

Raven floated a few feet off the ground, her legs crossed and her hands rested on her knees. The perfect picture of tranquility, almost. Her legs fidgeted every now and then, and her brow was furrowed. She was focusing harder than normal on keeping her thoughts ordered and her emotions under control.

Every single one of her emotions were screaming something different at her inside her mind. Each one had their own distinct views on what had happened over the day. Logic said she should go and tell Robin everything. Courage said that she should challenge Reaver and demand he explain exactly what had happened. Sadness said that she should ask someone else.

Raven was still getting used to actually giving her emotions attention. Normally she spent her time in meditation distancing her self from her emotions, keeping them locked away so their voices couldn't be heard, but that method has been failing. Recent events had forced her to look for a better way. Cyborg and BeastBoy having to help in the defeat of her rage was the first. Next came when the false wizard in a book had raised a peculiar emotion in Raven, and it had begun to influence her without her knowledge. She felt curiosity, sympathy, and pity for the man. He had been trapped in a book for the last thousand years, alone. His situation in many ways mirrored hers, lacking anyone who could even begin to understand her or stimulate her mentally. It had roused feelings,and the emotions had clouded her judgement and perception. Looking back on it now Raven couldn't believe how stupid she was.

The most recent event had occurred when Reaver had shown how much control he had over his emotions. How he could snuff out an emotion in an instant. That had been the last sign she needed. Fate had shown her that her current method wasn't working and then fate had given her a new means of controlling her powers.

She was currently in the process of rediscovering her emotions. A portion of her meditation each day had been spent listening to her emotions. By doing so she could begin to feel them again, if only gradually. If things went well she should be able to feel emotions again fully. The process would take years of work, but it would be worth it and so far it was working...

Up until right now. All of her emotions were telling her such wildly different things it was staggering, but there was one common thread with them all. None were agreeing with what she had done.

When Raven had told Robin about Reaver and what had happened in the alley, she hadn't included what she had said to her about promising to kill him, about how his eyes changed or what she had said to him...

Raven could not figure out why she had done that. She was normally a very logical person who thought out her actions ahead of time. Except omitting that part of the story was done on a whim.

Normally people do things on a whim all the time. Mostly minor, mundane things. Supersizing your big mac, getting pepperoni on a pizza, calling in sick to work for no reason, or renting a tape of a movie you've seen just because that had a 'rent three get one free' deal at the store. But when you live your life with almost no emotions doing things randomly is a very rare thing indeed.

Raven sighed and focused more. Maybe if she probed deeper, more minute emotions she would find her answer.

* * *

"Who is Man?" Robin leaned forward on the overstuffed chair across from me. I could barely make out his face in the dim candlelight, unless I used my lifesense. 

"Man is who I once was, the name I took when I began my career as an assassin." I took another sip from my scotch. I saw that I was half done with this glass. "I'm assuming you already knew that. If you didn't I'm very disappointed in you Robin." The Boy Wonder's mask narrowed.

"Why Man? Why did you take that name."

"It was actually given to me. When I began I worked for a mob boss. He had a habit of referring to everybody as man. As in 'hey man how's it going' or 'what's up man'. Since he had nothing else to call me he always called me 'man' so I kept the name."

"Alright, now onto the real questions. That last one was more of a personal curiosity."

"Of course"

"You said something about a choice before. What choice was that again."

"To die at the hands of a super powered psycho or let Man takeover."

"What do you mean let Man takeover?"

"I mean letting myself slip back into the personality of the assassin."

"Please elaborate."

"Very well. Over the course of my time as an assassin I saw some very bad things, things that would make normal people require counseling for the rest of their lives. Somehow I endured, and even thrived. Man became a cold evil. A cunning and malicious thing that can wait for years for a plan to come to fruition.A separate personality is the best way of describing it, but it's joined at the hip with the other one. Neither is fully capable of operating on it's own. When I slip back into Man I let him take over my body fully."

"So your two personalities? Do they conflict ever?"

"Oh yes, all the time. Generally if Man takes over it's against my wishes, but he always wins."

"So the two of you are fighting for control, and Man can take over whenever he wants?" Robin looked tense at this statement. Like I was suddenly going to lunge from my chair and rip out his throat.

"No, no. We don't fight for control. Man just sometimes believes that it's necessary for him to step in. Most of the time it is, but only when I'm fighting or in another situation that requires Man's skill and ability. So you can take your hand off of your utility belt, I'm not going to attack." Robin relaxed a bit, but just a bit.

"So let me get this straight. Man is the conglomeration of all of the horrors you've seen. So as a result he is a very patient and malicious killer. Won't that make him just as bad as those who made him?"

"He's made up of evil acts Robin. It's kind of hard to make a house out of maple wood if you only have oak."

"Point, but I have a question. If Man has been in control these last four years, why did he suddenly relinquish it to you. Why did he give up being the primary personality?"

I shrugged. "To be honest I don't know. Maybe he got tired of being the prime persona all the time. Perhaps he felt it would be fair if I took over. Maybe he's biding his time for something to happen. Who knows? All that's important now is that he's gone, and I can try to make up for some of what I've done."

I leaned in. "What matters now is what your going to do with this information. Are you going to go to the rest of the Titans and tell them what I used to be. Or will you simply kick me off your team right now and tell the others that I was too big of a risk to the team. Or maybe you'll pass me off to the cops for my crimes as an assassin." I leaned back "Or maybe you'll walk out of here and do nothing, and hope fate will give you an answer to this. No matter your choice Robin, make sure your right and consider the repercussions of your actions, because no matter what you do there will be consequences. Some more than others." I took the last sip from my glass.

"Is that a threat." Robin's gloved hand clenched.

I lifted the bottle next to me "Of course not Robin, of course not." I poured the last few drops from the bottle into my glass. By the time the final one hit the glass Robin was already out my door.

* * *

Raven was still on the roof around midnight. She opened her eyes, her meditation done. 

Raven floated back down to the ground and released a deep breath. It felt she had been holding it for hours.

The probing of her deeper emotions had given her the answer she needed. She knew why she was protecting Reaver.

It was at this point she realized how ridiculously cold she was. Her teeth began chattering immediately and she began shivering. She wrapped her cloak around her frame as she ran over to the door back into the tower.

She descended the steps down to the elevator and pressed the button for the main room. Some tea would warm her up.

The doors slid open to show the lounge totally dark, save one dim light on a table next to the sofa. The light cast a sillhoulette ofthe spiky haired figure of Robin on the wall.

"What are you still doing up Raven?" muttered Robin.

"I could ask you the same thing." The goth girl said as she slowly walked into the kitchenette and began to boil water for her tea.

"I'm thinking."

"About what"

"Reaver." Raven tensed up "I spoke to him about what you told me. He told me about Man."

"Who's Man?"

"The name Reaver took up when he became an assassin.His separate personalitythatwas created from witnessing evil acts.He told me about how Man is still a part of him. He's what makes him act the way he does. He's what made him strike out against Gizmo and Star Sapphire. I also think that's what made him kill those men in the alleyway after he fought Samurai."

Robin paused. "I don't know if he should stay on the team."

Raven sat down on the couch next to Robin. She saw dozens of files, pictures, reports and other detective paraphenalia. All of it pertaining to Reaver. "Nice collection. Planning a scrapbook?"

Robin picked up a random piece of paper and began staring at it intently, like it he looked hard enough it would give him the answer he needed. "I gathered all this since I invited Reaver onto the team. Just about everything he's done over the last four years is documented here, but I couldn't find out anything about his time before that."

"And what have you found?"

"Reaver has taken over a hunded jobs over his four year career. They vary from minor mob hits to killing cult leaders and high up mafia crime lords. He's very good at what he does. Reaver was only caught once, but he escaped. That is the only one I know for sure he did. All the others are just unsolved crimes that fit a profile; a select few people slayed from one deep cut. The shape of the blade that made the wound matches Reaver's claws exactly."

Robin threw down the paper he was holding. "Everything I've seen indicates that he was a merciless and remorseless killer. A murderer with no conscience."

Raven droned "Well it sounds like you've made up your mind already. Why are you talking to me?"

"I can't figure out what would make Reaver decide to stay with us! Everything I've looked into, every lead, every informant has told me the same thing. Reaver wouldn't even pretend to fight for the good guys. Why would he turn down the contract on us? I can't figure it out! People like him are supposed to be against us!" Robin slammed his fists on the table.

Raven grabbed the paper Robin was holding a few moments ago and skimmed through it. "Robin, I think your wrong." The Boy Wonder looked up "Huh?"

"This is the report of when Reaver got caught right?"

"Yeah."

"Well read it again." Robin snatched the document and read through it. Nothing had changed.

"So what? Reaver went in, killed his target, and got caught getting out. In the ensuing firefight he escaped. How does that matter."

"Look at the injury reports from the hospital."

Robin did so "One DOA, 28 were checked in for minor broken bones and concussions.

"Would a cold blooded killer let a bunch of people who were shooting at him live with only some cracked bones and bumps on the head?"

Robin sat motionless for a moment, his eyes widening,before he burst into a flurry of motion. He grabbed reports and skimmed through what he already read, double checking facts and information, tossing read documents away from him like unwanted trash.

Almost instantly he darted out of the room like a bullet. Leaving behind a bewildered goth girl, a week's worth of work, and various pieces of paper fluttering to the ground like moths.

* * *

The next morning at our 8:00 ambriefing. 

We were all lounging about, ironically, the lounge. BeastBoy and Cyborg were in the process of making a big enough breakfast for everyone to eat. Pretty much that meant the two of them were fighting over the use of the waffle maker. BeastBoy wanting to make his tofu waffles and Cyborg the regular kind. We were never going to get to eat.

The rest of us were socializing around the room, minus Wildebeest. He was still recovering in the infirmary, and would be doing so for several days. That's what the meeting was about, how our squads were going to be moved around.

I had woken up with a powerful sense of exhaustion and lethargy. We had only been in teams for one day and already one of my team mates was out of commission. But not everything was bad, over the course of yesterday three other jobs were pulled, and all of them were stopped dead. Eight metahumans were captured. We were making progress.

Robin walked up to the holo projector on the coffee table and flicked it on. The room quieted instantly.

"Yesterday we made some definite progress. Eight members of the broken moon were captured, not counting the grunts we captured." He flicked a remote and profiles appeared on the holo screen displaying the mug shots of the convicts. "Unfortunately Wildebeest was seriously injured in a conflict with Comet, who was trying to steal a modified form of the crystal Star Sapphire uses. Luckily the crystal was kept safe and it is now being transported to a safehouse. For security purposes I can't say it here."

Bumblebee interrupted "Get on with new business Robbie! We already know this stuff."

Robin turned towards her and narrowed his eyemask. "Moving on. Since Wildebeest is out of commission Hotspot will be taking his place in squad three for the time being."

"One last thing I'll be hand out tracers to each person here. If you get a chance stick one on a perp. Do anything you can to get one on somebody, preferably in an unlikely spot." He spilled a handful of small round devices on the table. "Unless anyone has anything else they wish to discuss this meeting is adjourned."

Nobody raised their hands.

"Meeting adjourned."

Everyone began to get up and wander away, save for the green changeling and the metal man, who during all this were wrestling for control of the waffle maker.

Robin walked up to me as I was starting to wander to the elevator. I stopped and turned around.

"Yes"

"I've come to my decision regarding you."

I put my hands in my pockets. "And what might that be?"

"I'm going to let you stay on this team. I'm going to let you stay on as a Titan."

I was actually a little surprised. "May I ask how you came to this decision?"

"I looked underneath it all. I pulled back the layers and found the core of what you were."

"I'm glad. That must have taken alot of work to figure out."

"You could have just told me why you were killing all those people, that would have saved me some time."

"Oh come on Robin, you know that if I had told it to you, you would have still done all that work to double check my story. Pretty much I just let you figure it out for yourself."

"Right. Any way, I don't think that the rest of the team needs to know about your past. I'll just keep this between us.

"I thank youRobin. There are very few people who would have devoted that much effort to figuring out a near total stranger." I gave a deep bow.

"If your thanking me then you should probably thank Raven as well. She's the one who caught it. If it wasn't for her you'd be packing your bags."

"Raven?" I turned to the goth girl on the couch, and stared for a moment. When I turned back Robin was already gone.

I scratched my head and slowly walked up to the couch. I sat down a few cushions away from the girl.

"Hey, Raven" She turned her eyes towards me and lowered her book slightly "Hello Reaver" She resumed her reading.

"Uh, Robin told me about how you helped him come to a decision. Regarding me." I sort of pointed towards myself.

"Yes. Get to the point Reaver."

"Of course, um, thank you, for helping me. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be on this team anymore. If there's anything I can do for you just name it."

She lowered her book again. "Anything?"

"Anything."

She closed the book and set it on her lap. "Alright then, two things. One: Keep your promise, don't fight Comet again."

"I was planning on doing that anyway. What's next?"

"Tell me what it is that Robin found out. What it was that convinced Robin to let you stay on."

I winced. "Are you sure Raven? It's a... sensitive subject."

"You said anything."

"That I did. Fine, here goes...


	18. Moving forward

Two weeks later, local police station. The thin figures of Robin and Raven were standing close to me, as was police chief Schmidt. We were standing on the opposite side of a one way mirror gazing into an interrogation room where two officers were busy trying to break this one criminal we brought in.

The man who sat opposite him still wore his suit from the night before. You might recognize him as the man who

These last two weeks had been busy. The Broken Moon was still attacking at least two times a day, sometimes more. The broken moon quickly realized that we were only sending on average three people to stop them so they began beefing up their teams, so we had to do the same. We had combined our groups into two squads. At the moment our track record for victories was 27 for 13. I didn't even know that this city had so many places to rob.

All through this we had come up with nothing pertaining to where they were striking from. Every time we planted a tracer it's signal was lost before they had moved a hundred feet. And all the interrogations up until now had resulted in adsolutely nothing. Everyone the Broken Moon sent into the field had this passive mind control. It made it so that if they were captured any knowledge they possessed about the Broken Moon was erased. Not even Raven's mind probe could find anything. We were stumbling around in the dark.

Until now. Raven hadn't sensed the seed of mind control in this man when we had been fighting him. We had made a point to catch this guy and bring him in, problem was that even without mind control his will was exceptionally strong. Raven couldn't force her way into his mind which spoke volumes about him. The police were trying more mundane methods but to no effect. He just laughed and actually spat on an officers face. I sighed and planted my hand on my face.

Robin grit his teeth and Raven was just lookind disinterested. There was more yelling from the interrogation room as the 'bad cop' officer lunged for the concussion man. He was grabbed by his fellow officer and dragged out of the room. Robin and myself followed them out into the hall.

The red faced cop looked at us and shouted. "Nothing's getting through to that guy! It's like he's made of rock!"

"Calm down Phil." Hepatted his partner on the shoulder andtold him to go get some coffee."He's right you know, I don't think we can get this guy. Maybe you should try Robin. Can't hurt"

Robin frowned "Yes it can. We need a different tactic. We need to make him want to tell us."

"How are we goint to do that?"

I interrupted "Simple, we need to make him feel something stronger than his will. Stronger than his training"

Robin responded "And what's stronger than that?"

I shot out my claw "Human Survival Instinct."

* * *

Jacob Didge, aka Shatter, sat in the interrogation room alone. He had a pair of power suppression gauntlets on that kept him from manifesting a concussion blast and tearing his way out of here. The children had caught him in a slip up, literally. He had unfortunately slipped on some ice and actually knocked himself out on the corner of a building. He felt like such a chump. Probably because he was one. 

The boy with the claw strode in like he owned the place. He was followed by another man in gauntlets and the dark haired chick in the cloak. Jacob leaned forward with a disinterested look on his face. Another cheap tactic. They would probably go with the 'your buddy has alread fessed up' plan. The second man sat down next to him.

Jacob recognized him as one of the new thugs they had hired on. He wasn't properly trained, or equipped, in fact there was no reason he should have been on this mission in the first place. Jake didn't even know his name.

"All right you two. I'm friggin' tired of this. I don't want to be here anymore than you do, so I'm going to end this. If I don't get something useful in the next thirty seconds, I will punish you." I began counting down on my fingers.

Shatter rolled his eyes and the new kid just started shaking. "Listen man, I don't know anything." Shatter leaned over and nudged him "Don't worry kid, he can't do anything to us that he hasn't tried already."

I hit twenty seconds.

The kid was getting nervous and fidgety, Shatter was just leaning back like he was about to take a nap.

fifteen seconds.

"Y-you know that I don't know anything, right? I can't remember a thing."

ten seconds.

Shatter just kept looking disinterested.

five seconds.

"Seriously, I don't have anything for you, why are you doing this?" He rose to his feet.

two seconds.

"I got nothing!"

No more time.

I reached out and grabbed the kid's shirt and rose my claw to strike. I stopped suddenly and looked back at Raven. "Pardon me, but a lady is present." I lowered my arm and dragged the punk out into the hallway. He was tugging on my arm and begging for mercy the whole time.

As soon as I was out of view for thescreaming started. It wasascream that immediately evoked a sense of pity for whatever creature was making it. The only interruption was the occasional stop for breath or an incoherent plea for mercy.

Jacob's face became a pale white. Raven just stood silent and staring the whole time. Jacob leaned over and was able to make out the occasional flicker of shadow but nothing else. Through the window he saw an arc of crimson splash against the wall and the sound ended.

There was an uncomfortable silence for about a minute. I slammed open the door and strode in dragging something behind me. I walked up to the table and tossed my burden on top of it.

The thing was a corpse that slopped wetly onto the wooden table. Blood ran from dozens of tinycuts on the exposed parts of his flesh. Each one was precisely placed to cause an unbearable amount of pain. The boy's face was in a state that looked like a mixture of shock, sadness, and abject horror. It was frightening.

Jacob began reeling from it, pushing back his chair and hitting the wall yet he kept trying to move back. Like merely being near the body would somehow make him meet the same fate.

I twiddled awet, sticky claw. "Talk" was all I said.

The men in the next door observation booth couldn't write fast enough.

* * *

After about five minutes we all walked out of the room, Jacob in the back looking dejected. When he stepped into the hall he got the shock of his life. 

There stood the kid from before, perfectly fine. Not a hair on his head hurt. He grinned and looked at him with a wave.

Shatter pointed and opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, then opened it again. He looked at me and mouthed "how?"

I grinned. "The miracles of special effects."

The man began to fume and looked like he was going to try and kill me right there except he was taken away by some nearby officers.

I turned to the kid. "Your name was Rudy right?"

"Yes"

"Thanks, and don't worry. Your definately getting a lighter sentence for this, if any sentence at all. That was a very convincing scream."

"I have an older brother who's an asshole. Learning how to give a convincing scream of pain is the only reason why I'm not dead. Anyways your welcome man." He turned and was guided away by a few officers.

I looked to Robin. "You got all that right?"

Robin flipped through a few pages of notes. "Oh yeah, you did good today Reaver. I'll go over all this now. Where did you get the dummy corpse anyway?"

"Found it."

"No, seriously."

"You guys got a bunch of crap in that tower. I was exploring around and I found that in the basement. Nearly scared me to death when I found it. I thought one of you was killing people and hiding them in the basement."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "I'm not surprised that was down there. We have a whole bunch of stuff we don't use down there."

"Tell me about it, it's like your preparing for the apocalypse."

Raven interjected. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the tower?"

"Of course Raven. Let's go Reaver."

"Shotgun!"

* * *

I didn't get shotgun. I scowled at the back of Raven's head the whole ride back to the Tower. 

When we arrived Robin immediately set to the task of verifying everything Shatter had told us. I started to ask if I could help but I was stopped when Raven put her hand on my shoulder.

I looked back and furrowed my brow in confusion. "Don't bother, he's in his own little world now. Trying to help would only slow him down."

I looked at the spiky haired Titan. His gaze was focused very precisely on the computer monitor. He was so intent on his research that if he caught on fire he would only notice because the flames would obscure his vision from his work. It was impressive.

"Uhh, on second thought I'll just do some of my own work. Call if I'm needed." I turned about and strolled into the elevator.

Raven turned back to her obsessed leader. He was scanning five photos on the monitor simultaneously, not missing a single detail. She sighed and pulled up her hood. Returning to her room for a few hours of meditation seemed good right about now.

* * *

A couple of hours later Robin had called yet another meeting. Everyone was present. Even Wildebeest was there, his ribs had healed by now and he was feeling fine. The rest of our little group couldn't exactly say the same. The general spirit of the gathering was low. Far too many crimes and not enough victories or progress had pretty much crushed our morale. That and the fact that all of these people were superheroes with their own lives and cities to protect, and they were leaving these behind to help us. I was surprised that nobody had left yet. 

Robin once again approached the holo projector set on the table. He cleared his throat to silence the small conversations around him. When the room was silent his presentation began.

"A recent breakthrough in the Broken Moon case has led to our first solid step forward in bringing these crooks down. We have found the hideouts of several of the criminals, and as far as we know they have no idea we possess this knowledge."

Robin clicked the remote and a 3-D view of the city popped up with at least a dozen tiny blips all through out.

"The members of the Broken Moon keep their meta humans spread out. At each hideout there is only two or three at any given time. While this affords them mobility, it weakens them as a whole."

* * *

Raven and I ran down an alleyway next to a delapidated apartment building. We pressed ourselves up against the wall of the place and looked up at the balcony of our target. I looked to Raven and nodded. She closed her eyes and chanted three short words. My body was encased in obsidian and I was slowly lifted upwards. 

Raven deposited me on the lower balcony. I landed silently and darted into the abandoned apartment.

Raven continued to float upwards and pressed herself against the bottom of the concrete balcony, waiting for the signal.

* * *

Robin clicked the remote and a 3-D view of the city popped up with at least a dozen tiny blips all through out. 

"The members of the Broken Moon keep their meta humans spread out. At each hideout there is only two or three at any given time. While this affords them mobility, it weakens them as a whole.

* * *

Bumblebee flitted about in the abandoned subway, she was about the size of a real bee. 

She darted around a corner of a service tunneland focused her eyes on the darkness ahead of her. She could see a faint glow further down the tunnel. She darted towards it as silently as she could.

When Bumblebee drew close she saw two people sitting on crates opposite eachother. One was a heavy set female wearing a red jumpsuit. Across from her was a small framed gentleman in a pin stripe suit. The two of them were pondering over a game of chess set up between them.

Bumblebee rose a communicator to her lips and spoke a few short words into it. She listened to the deep voice of Cyborg come from the other end. She nodded and flipped the item closed.

* * *

Robin continued his speech. "Each blip on this map is a hideout we know about. At each hideout holds only two to three metahumans." 

He clicked his remote and focused in on one of the blinking lights.

* * *

BeastBoy hung from the rafters of the warehouse as a bat. He clicked his voice and listened closely for the return sound.

He sensed a large figure slumped next to a support beam working on his arm and a petite figure wearing a cape and hood. The person in the cape and hood was ambling around anxiously. They sighed and leaned up against the wall. Perfect.

BeastBoy morphed back and chattered into his communicator quietly. "Wildebeest, one of them's in position, get ready." He heard a loud snort in response over the device. BeastBoy snapped his communicator closed.

Wildebeest did the same. He put the device back in his pocket and planted his feet.

* * *

"We'll break down into five teams and hit them simultaneously. Since we lack the manpower to hit every hideout at once we'll be using the police to monitor the ones we can't strike. Putting the police up against the metahumans would be a death sentence so they have orders to only observe and intervene onlyif absolutely necessary."

* * *

Aqualad cut through the water like a knife. He darted towards his target as unseen as a minnow. He swam low and dashed up a pipe leading to the sewers. Upon entering the small sea of muck he flipped open his communicator. "Speedy, I'm in position. How's your view?"

"Just fine." Speedy was decked out in a suit and sitting at a table in the lounge of a club. In the basement of the place was where the metahumans were holed up however, so Speedy had gone undercover. At the moment he was recieving a drink from a rather buxom waitress. His bow was unstrung and sitting under his coat alongside his quiver. He nodded and smiled at his server.

Speedy took a sip from his drink and looked at the two large men guarding the door on the farside of the lounge. He whipped out his communicator "I'm ready when you are."

* * *

Robinclicked the remote once again and several profiled popped up on the holo screen. "This is all we know about the metahumans stationed at these points. It's not much but we should be able to manage." With another click the screen returned to the overhead view of the city.

"Due to the size of this operation and the need for organisation somebody is going to have to stay behind and act as a communications hub. I've thought this over and I've decided on myself for this purpose. I've also decided on teams. Reaver and Raven, Cyborg and Bumblebee, BeastBoy and Wildebeest, Speedy and Aqualad, and that leaves Hotspot and Starfire."

* * *

Three figures were scattered about around the interior of a factory. The production facility was long since abandoned save these squatters. Starfire was perched on top of one of the rusted machines, her partner was sitting on a similar perch below her. Hotspot could not see what was going on because he was too busy hiding his whole figure. Hotspot's head seemed to glow with a powerful inner fire that made hiding in the dark very difficult. Starfire darted behind a large outcropping of steel and began charging a powerful starbolt in her right hand. In her left she contacted her ally below. "Hotspot, get ready."

The firey man began charging a ball of heat himself. He pulled the ball close to minimize the light kicked off. Within a few seconds he had a large ball of red hot death. Hot spot smiled, whirled around the corner, and unleashed his firey doom at the first target he saw.

The poor bastard never saw it coming. The man in the full black leather outfit turned to see an inferno rushing at him. He raised his arms to block but it was useless. The inferno covered him drove him into the back wall with so much force it stole the air from his lungs. He remained conscious for a moment before he slumped down to the ground badly scorched. He left a man shaped burn outline in the wall. Hotspot smirked.

The glowing man was rushed by a man covered in a thick layer of fur. He swung a clawed hand at Hotspot's chest. He managed to matrix dodge out of the way, but such a maneuver cost him his balance. The wolf man spun about and swung a leg under Hotspot and drove him to the ground. The wolf man wound up for a powerful downward claw attack.

Hotspot gasped and planted his hands on the ground. He summoned up a jet of fire that propelled him into the air and out of harm's way. The wolf looked up and followed his descent, and then he was hit in the chest with a beam of green energy. He was driven back yelping the entire way. Heslammed into the wall and slumped down next to his friend.

Starfire floated down next to Hotspot. The red skulled teen turned towards her with a grim look, and then cracked a slight smile. Starfire returned it ten fold.

There was a slight clanking and the two of them turned back back to see a man in armor kneeling down next to his companions. He rose to his feet and started walking towards the two. He stepped into the light, and what a sight he was.

The man was wearing a set of pale silver full plate armor. The kind you would fing midieval knights wearing.Over his midsection he wore a tabard of clothwithabelt around his midsection that had the hilt of a knife poking out of it. His helmet was closed, but somehow you just got a sense that he was scowling. On his left arm he had a shield that matched the motif of his armor. Stamped on the front of it was an old celtic rune in blue ink. In his right hand he held an electric blue bastard sword that was heavily stylized. The blade was etched with runes for it's full length, and the hilt was an intricate carving of a golden cross. "Intruders. You have invaded my quarters, felled my companions, and disturbed my slumber. Are you children always so rambunctious?" The man spoke with a heavy old english accent.

Hotspot snorted. "Huh, who the hell are you?"

"I'm the last memory of days gone by. I'm all that's left of one of the most glorious times of mankind. When a man had to fight for what he had and when your mettle was tested every day. I'm the last of some of the greatest men on this earth. I am-"

"I wanted a NAME you windbag, not your life story. Christ..."

The man'shead lowered. "Do not take the lord's name in vain you welp. Very well, since you are so obviously bored already I'll get straight to the point. They call meKnight Kyle."

"... That's it? All that build up and your name is 'Knight Kyle'? That's weak."

"Impudent filth! I will teach you some proper respect!" He entered a fighter's stance.

Hotspot shook his head. "Whatever..." He charged up a lick of flame and hurled it at the armored man.

Kyle raised his shield to block, and successfully did so surprisingly. The flame splashed onto the metal and dissipated, not even leaving a mark. He lowered his shield and ran at his attacker.

Hotspot had been planning on his attack phasing him at least. So he wasn't prepared at all for his sudden charge. The man moved quick for a guy wearing a hundred pound of metal.

Knight Kyle swung down with his blade... and met a fist of glowing green. Starfire flexed her alien muscles and pushed against the blade, driving her opponent back. Kyle stumbled back a few steps before regaining his footing. Starfire rushed in with her hands glowing brightly. She swung a starbolt laden fist that thudded into his chest piece. The metal didn't even dent. Kyle responded with another cut that was once again blocked by a starbolt covered fist.

When Starfire charges a starbolt she can delay it, keeping it in her fist. Doing so affords her extra protection in the form of the ability to block weapons that would otherwise badly hurt her. The ability had been developed when Tamaran had gone to war with the Gordanians, a race of lizard like people who enjoyed the use of bladed weapons. Tamaranian nobles rarely carried weapons that were proper for defense in close combat.

Starfire swung up with a kick that nailed Kyle in his armored chin. The blow rang his armor and made him lift off his feet some but he was otherwise unaffected. The man spun and slammed Starfire hard across the face with his shield. The alien girl stumbled hard from the blow. She bumped into Hotspot.

Without missing a beat Kyle was on them again. He brought his shield up to guard his torso while his arm went high for an overhead chop. The two heroes spun away from eachother and the chop sunk deep in the metal floor.

Hotspot recovered first. He charged two fists of fire and hurled baseball sized torches at the Knight. Both struck his chest and fizzled out. Hotspot growled in frustration and began gathering more fire. He spun his gathered fireball into a long whip of flame. He lashed out and struck Kyle's faceplate. The warrior grunted in pain.

He turned towards Hotspot and was slammed in the back with a starbolt. Kyle stumbled forward from the impact and whirled about to see his attacker. Starfire stood there, floating just off of the ground and with yet another starbolt in her hand. Kyle rushed forward and swung, but only met air as Starfire darted high into the air. She hurled the starbolt but Kyle batted it away with his shield.

Starfire gathere more energy and fired a flurry of starbolts. Kyle positioned his blade and actually cut the starbolt in half as it flew at him. The two smaller blasts of energy burned tiny holes in the floor. Starfire gasped and began hurling a nearly constant stream of bolt, and each one was either rended in twain by his blade or simply blocked by his shield.

Then Starfire got lucky. A starbolt made it through his defense and struck his chest, causing him to stagger to the floor. This gave her the opening she needed as more starbolts sailed in, pounding his figure and kicking up a cloud of dust from the factory floor. Starfire ended her assault after several brutal moments.

A flash of light sailed from the dust, Starfire started to dodge and was then subject to searing pain. She reached down to her stomach and felt the hilt of a dagger protruding from it. Then she was falling...

Hotspot ran forward and caught the falling Tamaranian. He saw the hilt of the knife up against her gut, slathered in green blood. He also saw the tip of the blade poking out of her back. He winced for her and gingerly laid her on the floor, but not before wiping off the dusty ground.

Kyle walked out of the dust cloud, his armor was scorched in places and the knife in his belt was gone. Otherwise he was fine. He said "Well now that I've dealt with your woman, what say you join the fight little man? Or do you need to find another little girl to hide behind?"

Hotspot was pissed. Twin balls of fire built around his hands. Kyle resumed his fighting stance.

Hotspot brought his hands together, and with a yell, hurled a beach ball sized ball of blue fire at Kyle. Kyle brought up his blade and slashed, cutting the ball in twoand the halves separated around him and dissipated. He uttered "Pathe-

That' s all he got to utter before a tiny lick of flame struck his shoulder. This wasn't the red hot fire, or even the blue hot, it was white hot fire. The heat kicked off by white fire is roughly quadruple that of orange fire. That's hot enough to melt steel. Even though the lick of fire was only the size of a marble, it was hot enough to burn all the way through Kyle's shoulder.

The Knight's sword arm fell dead to his side. Kyle looked down at the limp and tried to move it, but only moved a few inches. Too many muscles had been burned and too many nerves damages. He didn't even feel pain.

And how did Kyle react? The only way a badass can. He unstrapped his shield and grabbed his sword with his other hand. He assumed yet another stance.

Hotspot's arms flopped to his side in exasperation. "Aww, come on man. Your arm is crippled, just give up."

"Never. You might give up under these circumstances but a true warrior would regard this as just another chance to test his mettle. Now ready yourself fool, I have a battle to win."

Hotspot gathered more energy. "You asked for it." He hurled another fireball.

Then something he didn't expect at all happened. Rather than cut the ball of fire, as predicted, he ran and dove through it. Hotspot was caught off guard so he could do nothing as Kyle swung and carved a deep wound in his arm. Hotspot staggered back clutching his arm. Kyle regained his feet and dashed once more.

Hotspot flicked out his hand, and Kyle started screaming in pain. He clutched at his helmet and threw off the armor. Underneath he was an old man, really old. Possibly in his seventies. he had a white goatee and full head of white hair. His face was heavily wrinkled and he sported a scar down his left cheek. He was still screaming and furiously wiping his face.

Hotspot had flicked out a few tiny droplets of blood. Rather than normal blood however this stuff was as hot as molten metal. Hotspot used his control overtemperature to keep the heat of his blood from hurting anybody nearby.He had been doing it for so long that he could literally do it in his sleep.

Hotspot still gathered power. He flicked out with dozens of tiny flames that struck Kyle. The armored knight turned around, still clutching his face. "Did you think that would stop me?"

"No, but this should." Hotspot snapped his fingers.

The tiny motes of fire had buried themselves in the recesses of Kyle's armor. Each ball had been a little bomb, and the snap had set them off.

All of the bombs went off at once. Bright arcs of fire blew out of every crack and hole in his armor. A great halo of fire blew out of his neckpiece and obscured his head with heat. Blasts of fire scorched the ground under him and scorched every surface of his body. Within a second it was over.

Kyle's arms were out stretched like a crucifix. He collapsed to his knees and uttered "Well played boy, well played." And he then fell flat on his face.

Hotspot took a deep breath, and heard a gasp behind him. He dashed over to see Starfire rising up and pulling the knife from her gut. She lay on her hands and knees panting. She looked up, and smiled "Only a flesh wound..." She took stock of her surroundings. "We are... victorious?"

"I guess so." Hotspot was suddenly enveloped in a hug. "YAY! Victory is ours! Hee hee hee!"

Hotspot hugged her back, but only for a second.

Starfire backed off and whipped out her communicator. "Robin! Joyous news..."


	19. Held at bay

Speed took another draught from his glass of Coke. He used the movement to obscure the long look he gave the two thugs next to the door across the room.

They seemed bored. They obviously weren't expecting anything, but if he just started walking up to them at random they would definately notice him before he made it twenty feet. The crowd in the club seemed to be keeping a good distance from the thugs. He'd need a distraction.

And for once fate smiled on the good guys. A woman who obviously had had too many drinks began shuffling over to the men.Speed saw his chance, donnedhis coat, andquickly weaved through the crowd over to the three.

A moment later Speedy was standing right next to the female, who at the moment was drunkenly flirting with one of the men who seemed to be rejecting her. Speedy strode up to them with an apologetic smile on his face. He put his arm around the woman. "I'm sorry, my friend seems to have had one too many cocktails this evening." He helplessly smiled.

One of the bouncers smiled back. "It's fine, you should just get your friend home. Buy her some coffee on the way." The other one nodded and smiled the same.

"I'll do that, come on you." He pulled on the woman's arm.

"What dooo youuu, think you are doin?" She drunkenly slurred. "I don't even know you! Your not gonna, kidnap me or something, are ya? Cause that would be swell." She leaned over and planted her chin on Speedy's shoulder. He cringed when he smelled hard liquor on her breath.

Speedy stumbled back, acting like the woman had put too much weight on him and he barreled right into one of the bouncers. The thin boy had no effect on the bouncer's position, but his lean over concealed him drawing the arrow from under his coat. A subtle twist was all it required to jam the shock arrow into the man's leg.

The thug bolted upright from the sudden voltage. He made the weird stuttering noise that people made when they got electrocuted and then slumped down to his knees, smoking ever so slightly. His companion went wide eyed and knelt down, completely forgetting the pair of bar patrons in front of him.

Speedy spun the arrow and slammed it onto the base of the man's neck. He mimiced his friends movement and parroted his sound before slumping down on top of him. Without missing a beat Speed darted into the door the two men were guarding.

The lone drunk woman was left staring at the two men fallen before her. Several other patrons had just noticed the unconscious men and goggled at the woman. She looked over at them and drunkenly slurred "WOOO, I'm the champ!" She then passed out on the floor.

* * *

Aqualad pressed himself up against the wall underneath a sewer access hatch. The hatch had been set up by the Broken Moon, presumably for quick movement through the city. He had found it while doing some recon, and had decided it was the best way to get inside. He flipped open his communicator. 

"Speedy are you ready yet? I'm gonna start growing algae here if you don't hurry."

* * *

Speed snuck through the lower levels of the club in his full superhero duds. He grunted into the communicator "Yeah I'm ready, just make sure you do your part" Speedy rounded a corner and stopped dead. 

The stairwell led down into a basement the size of the entire club. There were crates scattered al about and the occasional wine rack. A path through the crates led to a living area of sorts. There was a rug on the ground and a few pieces of furniture. A lightbulb hung from a wire in the ceiling. The dim bulb illuminated four people in civilian clothes doing mundane tasks. A woman in casual wear sat on a couch looking at a television. A man in leather sat across from her in a recliner. The other two were engaged in a conversation at a table over a half eaten pizza. One was a man in full swat armor and the other was a girl no older thansixteen who was wearingafar too short red miniskirt and a low cutbelly shirt.Speedy darted out and pressed himself against a crate and chattered into his communicator. "Hey fish boy, I'm ready" He got an exasperated "Finally" from the other side.

Speedy watched as a large, dark spot of moisture welled up in the middle of the rug. The woman on the couch glanced at it and frowned. "Aww, dammit. Drain's backed up again. Mike it's your turn to replug it." The man in leather in the recliner grunted and rose to his feet. He grabbeda ball of rubber on the table andpushed away his chair and rolled up the carpet and the sleeve of his coat. When he reached the point of moisture his face scrunched up in confusion.

Rather than the water rising up at a slow rate, as was the norm with backed up drains, it was coming up ata fast rate. He reached down to plug the hole.

As he knelt down the water pressure increased, violently. So violently in fact that he was blasted in the face with a torrent of water that knocked him to the ground with a sputter. The other three jumped to their feet. The blast fanned out to get everything nearby completely wet.

Speedy darted out and simultaneously fired three arrows from his string. The projectiles struck the now totally wet carpet. All four of the criminals began convulsing wildly as a powerful electric shock went through them. The totally soaked man on the ground was out instantly, as was the woman on the couchbut the other two only got mild shocks. Within a second Speedy had three more arrows on his string.

The two soaking people turned towards him. The girl at the table glared and rose up her hands, which burst into flames. As quick as lightning she hurled licks of fire at Speedy.

The masked teenager rolled to avoid the fires and fired off his three arrows at her. They were intercepted by a shield of fire that vaporized the missiles. She smiled broadly.

The otherwasn't idle. He shook off the stun he got from the electro-arrow and reached under the table. There was the sound of tape coming undone and then he hefted an enormous shotgun. He cocked it and fired at Speedy. With a shriek he ducked back behind a crate. The man in armor slowly walked forward.

And then he was wailed in the side with a sewer cover. The man flew with the projectile and skidded along the floor. The lone woman looked over and saw Aqualad, still in a hunched over pose from his throw. He grinned.

The red garbed girl fired twin blasts of fire. Aqualad ducked and ran to the side. He stopped and looked behind him...

to find the blasts dragging along the wall towards him. She hadn't fired singular blasts, but rather constant beams that she was dragging towards him. The Atlantean began running as fast as he could.

She was focusing on her target, which is why she was caught by surprise. Speedy rose from his cover and fired an arrow that grew a boxing glove on the tip in flight. The red girl was struck right in the back of the head and knocked out cold.

Speedy grinned and went to check on the other three to see if they were okay. Aside from a few injuries they were fine.

Aqualad whipped out his communicator. "Aqualad to Robin, we have completed our objective."

* * *

Wildebeest ran at the wall full bore. He desperately hoped BeastBoy was right.

* * *

BeastBoy crouched on a beam over the hunched figure. He just needed the signal. 

The hooded figure was leaning against the wall, and then she was being knocked back as Wildebeest crashed through the barrier and crushed her to the ground. She was buried under rubble, still alive though. The giant at the base of the beam rose to his full height, and was then knocked back down by a falling hippo.

Wildebeest looked at the emerald hippo and grunted, the animal grunted back and sort of smiled.

There was a slight rumble from under BeastBoy before he was hefted back into the air. The fifteen foot tall man was revealed to be the pure white and streamlined form of Golem, the robot Cyborg had fought a few weeks before.Apparently he had been repaired and rebuilt over the last few weeks.He looked at Wildebeest and hurled the green Titan.

Wildebeest did what came instinctually to him when a large mass was hurled at him. He brought his hands up and knocked it into the air. The green hippo hurtled skyward.

Wildebeest darted forward and punched at Golem. The robot lifted a massive fist and caught the attack. Wildebeest followed it up with his other fist, but it too was caught. The two warriors began pushing against eachother.

Of the two, Wildebeest was the stronger. Golem was slowly being pushed back. Suddenly panels opened up on the undersides of Golem's arms and a pair of rockets hurtled out. The two explosives slammed against Wildebeest's chest, detonated, and hurled him back. Wildebeest crushed against opposite wall.

Golem opend more panels on his arms and aimed them at his opponent.

BeastBoy had recovered around this time, so he made his presence known. He assumed the form of a rhino and slammed the robot hard in the side. Golem stumbled and fell hard to the ground. Golem skidded and spun. BeastBoy changed into a gorilla and ran at him. Golem rose to his feet.

BeastBoy's charge was cut short by Wildebeest dashing ahead of him and slamming Golem in the head with an uppercut that would have shattered stone. BeastBoy skidded to a stop to keep from ramming into Wildebeest.

Golem was jolted upwards from the attack. Showing agility rare in giant robots he flipped and landed on his feet. Small rockets protruded from his back and propelled him forward at a ludicrous speed.

Wildebeest smiled and spun to the side, and Golem flew right into the waiting arms of a gorilla. BeastBoy caught the charging machine by the arm and started spinning him around. Golem still had his rockets active so he spun ridiculously quick. With a flexing of his muscles BeastBoy swung the rocket propelled villain over his head and crashed him into the concrete floor.

Golem rolled and sat up on his butt. Before he could mount any sort of defense Wildebeest was on him. The giant man plunged his hand into the metal man's gut, and pulled out something that looked important. Golem immediately went limp and a powering down whine could be heard coming from him. BeastBoy changed back and smiled widely.

"Dude, high five! We totally kicked his butt!"

Wildebeest's eyes widened and he pushed the green changeling aside. He hurled the component away.

BeastBoy fell on his butt. "What the hell! Why did you-" He stopped when he saw what he had thrown it at.

The woman in the cloak was on her hands and knees. She was slowly getting up when Wildebeest's heavy projectile slammed her in the face. She once again fell with a heavy thud.

BeastBoy put back on his grin "Nice one! hahahaha."

Wildebeest smirked a bit.

BeastBoy pulled out his yellow communicator. "Yo, Robin, guess what?"

* * *

The heavy set woman known as Plateau pondered over the chess board in front of her. She stroked a her chin before finally moving her knight forward. Her opponent, Rathon, just smiled and moved his queen forward into check. Plateau frowned and picked up her bishop. 

Just then she noticed a yellow light off to her left. She had just begun to turn her head when a powerful bolt of gold energy slammed into her face, sending her sprawling.

A column of blue would have struck Rathon as well had he not jumped back just a moment after Plateau was hit. The beam sailed past him and detonated against the wall. He looked back and forth wildly.

Cyborg stepped into the light, his sonic cannon glowing. "Bee! I said fire on three, not two and a half!" He fired at the suited man again but missed.

"Oh, so now it's my fault you count fast." She began firing both stingers at the man, but he twisted and spun out of their path.

The red garbed woman sat up rubbing her head. She shook out the cobwebs in her head and took in the situation. She sluggishly rose to her feet and ran at her attacker.

Bumblebee saw her coming and opened up with both stingers. Plateau covered her face and ran headlong at her. Before long she was close up and so she swung a meaty paw at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee hovered off of the ground and continued her assault. Plateau just covered her face and withstood it.

The assault stopped and Plateau uncovered her face to catch a black boot right in the face. Plateau began to fall over, but stopped. Her knees were bending at a ninety degree angle, and then she whipped forward and smashed downward right on top of Bumblebee's head. The guest Titan was slammed into the concrete floor. Plateau smiled.

"Good luck knocking me over punk." She lifted her fist for the finishing blow.

Cyborg broke off from the melee he was having with Rathon and dashed at Plateau. He drove a shoulder into her side and his eyes bugged out when she didn't budge. Her smile got even wider and she just spun with her punch and wailed Cyborg in his robotic guts. Air whooshed out of Cyborg as he was forced back.

Plateau faced off against Cyborg, totally forgetting Bumblebee. She charged at her still recovering opponent. Cyborg fell back and barely got grazed by a powerful uppercut. The metal man reshifted his weight and leaned forward, putting his weight behind a powerful jab that smacked Plateau in the face.

The large woman reeled back. She returned the blow with a right hook that Cyborg deflected upwards. Cyborg once again jabbed in quickly and struck her in the chest. Plateau stumbled.

"Strong and slow, just the way I like em'." Cyborg wound up again but was stopped by a sudden bolt of electricity hitting him in the side. Cyborg jolted for a moment before regaining control of himself. He turned to see Rathon with his palm outstretched towards him.

Plateau made use of this distraction and slammed Cyborg's face. Rathon dashed in to help the fight. Power crackled over Rathon's fist. He slammed his powered hand right into Cyborg's chest.

The force of the blow sent Cyborg sailing twenty feet. He skidded to a stop against the backwall of an alcoveand groaned painfully. The light in Cyborg's metal parts dulled slightly.

Rathon ran in with a steely look on his face. He charged more power into his fist and lunged. He was only a foot away from hitting Cyborg when dual bolts of yellow energy slammed into him and pressed him against the alcove wall.

Bumblebee groggily rose to her feet and fired again. The blast struck Rathon hard in the chest, but didn't stop. Bumblebee grit her teeth and fired continuously. Rathon's suit charred and burned, creating a big black hole in the chest of his suit. During his punishment Rathon was screaming loudly.

After a good minute of this Bumblebee stopped and the singed form of Rathon fell to the ground. Bumblebee panted from her exertions. Cyborg stood up.

A loud yell reminded the two that the fight was not yet over. The two looked over and saw Plateau running at Bumblebee wielding a section of track like a club. She swung the bludgeon in a horizontal arc. Bumblebee danced back out of reach of the weapon and fired her stingers. The bolts of yellow impacted her gut and made Plateau grab her midsection in pain. With her one arm she swung the track in a clumsy swipe that Bumblebee easily leapt back from.

Bumblebee armed her stingers and fired, and at the same time Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at the woman's back. The dual impact drove Plateau to her knees.

Cyborg strode up and planted a metal boot on the woman's back and forced her to the ground. He handcuffed her with extra strong handcuffs.He looked at his partner. "Yeah, NOW we fire at the same time." Bumblebee smiled helplessly.

Cyborg spoke into his arm. "Yo Robin, we're done here."

* * *

When I touched down on the balcony I slipped into the abandoned home. Raven continued upwards to wait for my signal.

The apartment was empty save a few moth eaten chairs and a sagging couch. I darted out the front door and up the stairs in the main hallway. I skidded to a stop outside my destination.

I grabbed the weapon that was swinging from it's strap on my back. I focused on my senses and detected three lifesigns in the apartment. Two in the main living room and another one in the back room. I lifted my communicator and whispered "Raven, when you get the signal take the one in the back, I have the two in the front." I got a confirmation from her end. I backed up and ran at the door.

I crashed into the heavy wood and tore it off it's hinges. I rode the door like a board for a few seconds before it landed and slid off. In those few seconds I had made my strike.

With my right hand I steadied the weapon on my back and in my left was one of my glocks. I sighted in a woman sitting cross legged on the couch and fired a quick triple-tap.

All three wax rounds thudded against her. One on her forehead and the others against her cheekbones. Needless to say she was out.

I rode the door into the main living room and sighted in the other person. I recognized the robed figure of Samurai in his defensive stance with that golden blade. I was impressed that he had gotten up so fast.

The oriental man dashed in and sliced downward. I parried the blow to the side with my claw and kicked but my assault was blocked by the flat of his blade. Samurai swept low with his leg and I hopped to avoid it. I curled other leg up to my chest and kangaroo kicked him in face. I flipped back and landed in front of the portal I had come through a moment before.

Samurai staggered up holding his face. He hefted up his golden blade and drew another weapon. A wakizashi that looked exactly the same, except it was notably shorter. I scowled and flipped out the weapon I had brought with me.

Samurai's eyes were saucers. In my hands wasa gunmetal 6G-30 grenade launcher. I fitted the weapon into the crook of my arm and fired at Samurai. The 40mm round was blocked by his swords but it still detonated. The concussion grenade threw Samurai back and he slammed against the wall over the couch. He cracked the drywall and landed on his companion, quite unconscious.

Just then there was a loud crackle and a man covered in bright blue spandex slammed into the wall in the hallway that led to the back two rooms. He leapt to his feet and began running at me, his eyes full of fear. Raven floated after him.

The man seemed to be totally ignoring me, his mistake. I pulled back my grenade launcher and nailed him with the butt of it. He sailed and landed on his companions as well.

I looked to the floating lady next to me. "Well that was easy." I slung my heavy weapon over my shoulder.

She eyed me curiously. "Did you have to bring that? Seems like overkill."

"Hey, your the one who said we need to get this done quick. There are very few jobs that cannot be sped up with a properly used grenade launcher."

Raven rolled her eyes and pulled out her communicator. "Robin, mission accomplished."

* * *

Robin sat in the lounge of Titan's tower smiling to himself. He had just gotten word that Reaver and Raven were successful, and Cyborg and Bumblebee a moment before that. Things were going off without a hitch.

Suddenly he got a crackle over one of his communcation lines. "Come in Robin, this is Liutenant Barnette, come in!"

Robin pressed his earpiece in"This is Robin. What's your status?"

"Oh thank god Robin! We've been trying to reach you for the last five minutes but our signal was being jammed!"

Robin brought up the 3D view of the city, with blips indicating the positions the police had taken up. "What's wrong!"

"The other hideouts have mobilized. Their moving in on the other teams!"

"Which hideouts have mobilized?"

"All of them!"

That made Robin reel back. He whispered "That's over forty metahumans..."

"They started moving out several minutes ago. They're almost all in position. They've separated into even groups. This was anticipated!"

Robin stopped listening after 'they're almost all in position' He was bringing up several new comm channels "Titans! It's a trap! Get out of there now! Regroup!" Robin got only static in response. The Boy Wonder growled and threw off his headset.

* * *

Raven looked down at her communicator and pressed a button. "Robin, roger that. Reaver and I will move to Starfire and Hotspot's position. Do you copy? Over." She only got static in response.

She looked up to me "Our signal is being blocked. Let's move."

"What about them?" I pointed at the three unconscious forms on the couch.

Raven encased them in black and dragged them with her out the balcony and up onto the roof of the opposite building. I followed with a few quick hops.

We proceeded quickly to the warehouse that Hotspot and Starfire were at. During our flight we saw no sign of the trap that Robin had spoke of.

I pulled out my communcator during my run and attempted to contact Starfire, but I got no signal. I grunted and pocketed the device.

About halfway to the warehouse I saw a great number of light flashes in the sky. Blue and bright green flashes. I yelled to Raven and began running towards the disturbance.

After hopping up on a roof I could survey the battle. Starfire flew around in the sky hurling starbolts at two men on the ground. A man in a green jumpsuit with bracers shot a near constant stream of blue blasts. I recognized him from Starfire's descriptions as Burstfire. His fellow shooter was the blue garbed figure of Iceknight. When had they broken him out of prison?

I shook the question from my head. Now wasn't the time. I leapt down into the fray. Time to even the odds. When I landed I was splatted in the face with a snowball. I turned and saw the culprit.

Comet stood a good fifty feet away, casually tossing snowball in the air and catching it. He was totally uninjured and he still wore a nice italian suit despite the freezing cold. His face was still that fricking jackal grin he always wore.

"Hey there Reaver, ready for round three?"


	20. Beaten back

I sneered at Comet and ran at him, extending my claw. He set himself in a defensive posture and grinned.

Out of nowhere a car slammed on top of him. The gas tank exploded in a Hotspot-worthy fireball. I skidded to a stop and looked confused.

Raven floated down from the roof, her hands and eyes glowing gray. She turned to me and said "Remember your promise Reaver! I can handle him, you help Starfire and Hotspot." I nodded grimly and turned to my besieged companions.

Starfire was flitting around in the air avoiding blasts of cold and blue energy. She flipped around to avoid a ball of cold and retaliated against Iceknight with a flash of eye laser. Iceknight was forced to the ground by the blast. Unfortunately the green laser blinded Starfire for a second, giving Burstfire the chance to pelt her with a flurry of blue bolts.

I jumped over and stood over Iceknight. He looked up at me and went pale. "Hey frosty, remember me?" I struck down with my fist and slammed him in the gut. Once again I knocked the wind out of him. I rose my fist to strike again.

With a heavy grunt Iceknight flung up his arms and blasted me with a gust of cold. I stumbled back as rime covered my skin. Iceknight stumbled to his feet laboring for his breath. I rubbed the frost from my eyes and came at him again.

Iceknight summoned up a wall of ice between us. I straightened my fingers and thrust at the barrier.

I crashed my hand through it and showered to two of us with tiny little crystals. I followed up the stab with a jab to a very surprised Iceknight's face. He pinwheeled and collapsed on the floor. He groaned and began to get back up.

I rolled my eyes. "Stay down, I don't want to have to hamstring you again." He continued to rise. I sighed and walked over to finish my job.

* * *

Meanwhile Raven was doing her best to fight off Comet's advance. Comet was steadily approaching a floating Raven. The goth girl continuously hurled vehicles, boulders, bricks, anything she could grab. Nothing was slowing him down. Comet grinned and jumped up to avoid an SUV and swung at the floating girl. Raven flipped around him and slapped her hand onto his back with a flash of black. Comet slammed into the ground obscenely hard. He cracked the concrete and formed a body shaped impression in the stone. Comet just grunted up to his feet and grinned.

* * *

During all this Starfire had been engaged in another aerial battle with Burstfire. At the moment she was dodging an army of red blasts that were chasing her. Unfortunately this time around she had to dodge blue shots as well. The red shots were getting dangerously close... 

I glanced back from my approach to Iceknight and saw Starfire's plight. I whirled around and yelled "Starfire, come here!" She didn't look but I could tell she heard me as she quickly began to fly straight to me. As I waited I surveyed the situation.

Starfire whipped past me like a bullet. I stepped to the side and charged my buckler. I raised my arm and began to defllect the stream of red bolts. The bolts had been hitting me with tremendous force, enough to shake my arm. I grabbed the limb to steady it.

I began to deflect the shots towards Burstfire's form. I couldn't see his face, but I'm guessing it would have been priceless. The man was hurled back by his own blasts into a debris pile. I smiled, and twisted myself so the last few shots sailed off.

The remaining blasts nailed Comet right in the face. He was unprepared so it actually knocked him over. I smiled and looked at Raven. She sort of returned it.

I looked to Starfire. "Where is Hotspot?"

"I do not know."

I got my answer when I saw a great plume of fire erupt into the sky about a block away.

"I'm assuming he's over there." I started to run with Starfire behind me. I halted and looked back at her. "Starfire, help Raven. I'll help Hotspot." She nodded in response and flew off to help her friend.

* * *

I jumped up onto a handily placed rooftop. I ran along it's surface before leaping into an adjacent park. This was where I saw that plume come from. I landed heavily and with a flash of blue to absorb my fall. 

All around me I saw patches of melted snow and ice. Half of a tree was coated thickly in white and the other half was burnt to a crisp. Patches of snow were melted to reveal dead grass beneath.

There was another explosion of fire and I ran to help.

I saw that the fight was taking place in a baseball field built into the park. There were attached basketball courts as well. Hotspot was in the middle of the field fighting off two foes. One was an insect-like humanoid that had a set of wasp wings on his back and mantis like claws mounted over chitinous human hands. It had compound eyes like a fly and snapping wasp mandibles. At the moment he was zipping around Hotspot as he futily fired off bursts of fire at his flying opponent.

The other was the girl from before in the kaleidoscope robes. She still held her glittery staffand was grinning.

I flipped out my grenade launcher and sighted in on Illusia. She must have had some sort of Illusion set up to screw with Hotspot, and I wasn't going to let that happen. I fired off a concussion grenade.

The projectile passed right through her, and her image began to fade like it was made of sand. The grenade detonated some distance away against a bench.

I looked confused for a moment. And then a familiar bludgeon smashed me on the head. I fell forward and collapsed. I rolled over and saw a familiar smiling face. I snarled and lashed out with a boot. Once again I hit a sandy illusion. I grunted and kipped up to my feet.

I looked around and saw nothing. No tracks, no signs of passage besides my own. She must have obscured her tracks like she did to herself. I focused on my life sense and got... nothing?

I tried again and still came up with zip. Her illusions could obscure life energy as well? She must be powerful indeed.

I looked over at Hotspot and saw the bug man slice his arm. Hotspot yelled in pain and continued blasting. I didn't have time to waste on this girl, I needed to help him. I ran through my options and came up with one solution.

I slid my grenade launcher under my coat and assumed a ready stance with my claw arm.

I waited...

and waited...

and waited...

I heard another yell from Hotspot. He must have gotten hit again.

and waited...

and then I was clobbered again.

This time instead of falling forward, I clicked the trigger on my grenade launcher. The explosive hit the ground and went off. The blast wave sent me flying upwards with a scream. Luckily Illusia was caught in the blast as well and flung against a tree. When I landed she was unconscious, oh yeah, and I had a broken leg.

I regenerated that and stood up. I checked on Illusia and sure enough she was totally out of it. I handcuffed her for good measure. I extended my claw and ran at Hotspot's position. The bug man didn't see me coming.

I jumped up and came down right on his head, smashing him to the ground. I hopped off of the thing's cranium and landed next to Hotspot.

"What's this guy's deal?"

"It calls itself Cicada. All he's done so far is fly around and mutter about sucking out all my juices."

"Sounds erotic. I'm sure you two will be very happy together."

"Shutup, he's standing back up again."

Cicada was slowly rising to his feet and hissed loudly. His wings began to buzz as he lifted off the ground. I simply flipped out my pistol and began shooting at him. He screamed and covered his face. My bullets were quickly followed by a great gout of flame from Hotspot. The bug man was cooked.

I reloaded my 6G-30 and my Glock. "That was easy. I'm surprised you had such a hard time with this thing."

"Try hitting him when he's darting around like a madman."

"Point."

"So what's left anyway?"

"Raven and Starfire are fighting Comet over there. They need our help."

Just then I noticed a speck in the sky, and a sound like somebody going "EEEEE!" I squinted my eyes, and then widened them in surprise.

"STARFIRE!" I started running to catch the falling alien.

I jumped up and caught her in midair. Her impact knocked me off balance and I landed in a puddle of melted snow left over from Hotspot's blasting, now it was mud.

I looked down at the dazed Tamaranian. She was alive, and conscious, but she had a very large bruise on her gut. I set her on her feet, and then caught her again as she began to fall.

"Starfire, what the hell happened to you?"

She smiled weakly "The Comet is very strong. He hit me over here."

"Shit. Starfire, where is Raven?"

"Right here you sad-sack!"

I looked up at the new voice and saw myself looking straight at Comet's smiling face. In his right hand he held Raven by the hood of her cloak. As far as I could tell she was unconscious. Comet swung his arm and hurled the goth girl like a sack of potaetoes.

I found myself once again running to catch a teammate. The blue cloaked female landed in my arms lightly. I shook her to try and wake her up, but got nothing.

"Don't think that's all boy. I brought some playmates as well. I think you already know eachother." He motioned towards his sides and Iceknight, Burstfire, Samurai, the man in the bright blue spandex, and the woman who was on the couch walked up from behind him. All of them were uninjured and wore smug smiles.

I gaped "How did you..." Comet finished "fix them up? I control the largest organization of metahumans in this country, did you really think we didn't have a healer or two in the ranks? Speaking of which, Glowhand, fix up Illusia." The woman from the apartment nodded and walked over to the fallen girl.

She didn't get the chance to heal her as a series of explosions went off around her. The blasts detonated against trees, snow, and people. I covered my eyes to block out the display.

When it was over there was nobody standing. I looked around for the cause and saw The Boy Wonder perched on a tree branch some distance away. He hopped down and sprinted over to me. "Report"

"We've lost contact with all the other squads. So far we've engaged Comet, Iceknight, Illusia, Burstfire, Samurai, Glowhand, and whatever the hell that guy's name is." I pointed to the man in the blue spandex lying in a small crater. "Raven is unconscious and Starfire and Hotspot are hurt."

"How did this happen?" He began reaching into his belt.

"I don't know. Someone may have telepathically alerted the other hideouts. I don't know what's jamming our communicators. My guess is- oh crap they're getting up."

Sure enough Forms began to rise from the blasting site. Robin hurriedly began running something under Raven's nose which woke her up real quick. She bolted up out of my arms. I had forgotten I was holding her.

Comet, Samurai, Burstfire, and Iceknight began to rise from the ashes. The former three were looking bedraggled while Comet looked just spiffy. He lifted up his wrist and spoke into it "This is Comet. Get me some reinforcements on my position, pronto

Robin grit his teeth. "Hotspot, Raven you two take care of Comet. We'll handle the other three. TITANS GO!" All five of us dashed forward, and all four of them did the same.

Nothing look a good old fashioned superhero vs. supervillain brawl.

I met Burstfire head on, my claw against his twin jets of yellow energy. I clawed in for his head but I was blocked with a high swipe that batted away my claw. Burstfire stabbed with his other jet but I deflected that wide with my buckler. Now off balance I spun and swung downward for his head. Burstfire grunted and blocked with crossed blades. My force was slowly pushing his blades down on top of his head. His knees started to bend.

I didn't catch him shifting his feet. Suddenly Burstfire had deactivated his bracers, and my face was flying headlong into the top of his head. Burstfire had adjusted his footing so that he could headbutt me and avoid my blade at the same time if he deactivated his bracers. I was dazed for a second, and during that second Burstfire pressed the nozzles of his bracers up against my chest. He smirked and fired a point blank blast of bright blue energy that sent me flying back. I landed on my back and flipped over my head to land on my face. When I looked up I saw a flurry of blue blast hurtling at me. I yelped and kipped up. I then began to furiously dodge and block shots.

* * *

Robin had squared off against Samurai. At the moment they were circling eachother, sizing one another up. Robin had his staff out, and Samurai had his two swords. They both stopped simultaneously and narrowed their eyes. 

They simultaneously charged. Samurai had his katana back for a strike and his shorter blade up for defense. Robin was leading with his staff point. Just before impact Robin spun his staff and jammed the tip into the ground and hopped off of it sailing over Samurai's head. The oriental man turned around to see his adversary fly over him.

Robin dug into his belt, drew a fistful of discs andhurled the miniature bombs.Samurai spun his katana like an industrial fan and deflected the bombs away from him. Samurai ran and jumped, slashing at the Boy Wonder in midair. Robin parried the blows as best he could, but his equilibrium was destroyed. Robin flipped and thudded hard on the snow. Samurai turned around and came at him again.

* * *

Starfire was left with Iceknight. The girl floated in the air and fired off Starbolts at the flipping form of Iceknight. She endlessly pelted the man in blue. 

Iceknight handsprung backwards and fired a beam of cold right at Starfire.She dodged to the side but was surprised to see the beam following her. Iceknight was fireing a constant beam that he was dragging along. Starfire found herself having to constantly dodge or else be frozen. Starfire flew along the ground and then straight up. Iceknight attempted to track her, but lost sight of her in the sun.

Starfire took advantage of her opponent's blindness and fired a starbolt the size of a basketball, which squarely struck Iceknight in the gut and knocked him over. Starfire flew low and then made a bee line for the white haired man. Iceknight pressed his hands together and began gathering cold. Starfire sped up and was upon him in a second. She drove a starbolt charged fist right in his chest, and then another with her other hand, and again, and again, and again. When Starfire was done she had thouroughly crushed him into a smoldering heap. He laid on the ground drooling blood.

Stafire stood up and looked at the situation. She saw both me and Robin in rather dire straits. She looked back and forth, not knowing which one to help.

In the end she chose neither as she saw Hotspot and Raven desperately battling Comet. She could not ignore their plight so she sailed in to help best she could.

Raven encased a cube of dirt in black and tore it out of the ground. Comet had jumped so he sailed right into the hole it left. Raven canceled her spell and buried him in soggy dirt. A moment later, a very dirty Comet hurled out of the ground with a grin on his face.

Just then Starfire soared in and grabbed Comet by his arm. Starfire grunted and hurled him skyward a good thirty feet. She spun and began charging a starbolt.

When it was the size of a beach ball she fired it upwards. The bolt detonated and blasted Comet even further upwards.

"Why was I able to lift him?" She said to noone in particular.

Raven droned "The ground here is too wet. If he got too heavy he would just start sinking"

Hotspot chimed in "Less talky, more shooty!" And he began gathering white hot fire. Starfire prepared another enormous starbolt and Raven chanted "Azarath Metrion Zinthos"

Comet descended down to about sixty feet when all three of them fired. Comet was completely obscured by the three different powers working together. The blast had the force of a tactical nuclear weapon.

A few seconds passed before anyone dare speak. Hotspot uttered "Did we get him?"

a minute passed. All three looked around warily.

There was a loud whish noise and then Hotspot collapsed, a knife protruding from his back.Burning blood oozed out the wound and began to eat away at the knife, reducing it to worthlessslag.The two remaining females looked behind him to see Comet standing a good niney feet off behind a tree, looking like crap. His suit was torn to pieces, his hat was gone, and he was burned and cut in many places.

He yelled "You'll have to do better than that kiddies. I'm just getting started."

* * *

I had yet to notice the fight with Comet. I was too focused on dodging. 

Burstfire continuously fired blue energy at me. All I could do was run and dodge.

I darted behind a tree and used it as cover. Burstfire mercilessly hammered the plant and slowly began to tear it to pieces. I grunted as shards of wood began to fly all around me. I hefted my grenade launcher...

I jumped straight up and fired at Burstfire with a smoke grenade. It detonated and filled the area with a thick, choking fog. I landed and ran straight for where I last saw him.

Burstfire stopped his shots when the grenade hit. The green suited man took a hesitant step back and activated his yellow blades.

I charged right at him and swung high once more. As expected Burstfire crossed his blades to block. Instead of getting shot in the gut like last time, I swung forward and nailed him in the gut with my left hand. Burstfire gasped and I bitch-slapped him with the back of my claw. He spun and staggered. I grabbed and turned him around. And for the finisher I bashed him across his ugly face with my buckler.

I ran out of the cloud before he even hit the ground.

* * *

Samurai charged the prone Robin with his sword high. Robin kicked a metal laced boot, knocking his adversary to the ground next to him. Samurai stabbed down with his wakizashi but Robin rolled out of the way. Samurai rolled after him. With each roll Samurai swung, and with each roll Robin parried.

Robin planted his hand on the ground and sprung up, and he was quickly followed by Samurai. Before they hit the ground the two were at it again in a flurry of attacks.

Both warriors swung and struck the other's weapon, forcing the two of them back. They both charged and jumped at one another, and struck in midair.

They both landed, but Robin fumbled. When he landed his leg buckled and he collapsed like a wilted flower. The Boy Wonder was out.

Samurai smiled and turned around to finish him off. He started to run but he was stopped when I interposed myself. I slashed out with my claw, but it grated along his blade. Samurai stepped back.

I dropped my grenade launcher and readied myself. Samurai smiled and dashed. He swung sideways but only cut air as I hopped myself back. With a twitch of his leg he followed my flight.

I kept hopping backwards staying just a little bit out of reach.

After several hops I was at the back stop of the baseball field. I did a powerful hop and twisted my body. I planted my feet against one of the supports of the back stop. I curled my legs and spun my body like a corkscrew. Samurai didn't have time to put up a proper defense, so my kick smashed through his block and wailed him in the face with all the force I could muster.

Samurai flew through the air like a wayward rocket and drove into a snow drift. I squared my shoulders for my next fight.

* * *

Starfire was being bear hugged at the moment. Comet was crushing the life from her. Starfire gasped and fired point blank eye lasers right into his face. When she was done his face was blackened, but he just kept smiling like the bastard he was.

Raven hurled an obsidian car his way. The vehicle crumpled against him like a piece of tin foil. He kicked back to remove the debris from his person. He looked back "Oh so you want to play then too, alright. There's plenty of Comet to go around! Just let me finish this." He tightened his hold, and Starfire screamed.

She screamed after Comet's hold broke her arms. She screamed after her ribs cracked and shattered. And she only stopped screaming when her one of her lungs collapsed and she coughed up greenblood. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out from the pain. Comet released her, and looked with disdain on the green that was marring the remains of his suit. He snarled and kicked Starfire's limp form.

Raven was aghast. She had never seen someone commit such an act of vicious brutality. And it was performed as an afterthought, with almost no premeditation or forethought. It was just cruelty for the sake of being cruel.

And he was still fucking smiling.

"Now then, you wanted to play right?" He turned around.

Raven snarled and covered the earth in black. She twisted the very ground beneath Comet and rose it up against him, swallowing him up. A second later Comet burst forth from the ground like it was some sort of foul cocoon.

Raven growled out "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" And the ground itself tore and swallowed him up.Raven even tore the concrete of thesewer and plunged him beneath that.Raven floated down and held her head. She had a splitting headache.

Unfortunately not even the Earth itself would take this one . A minute later Comet soared back out of the earth, like it was spitting him back.

Comet landed next to Raven and back handed her into a mud puddle from Hotspot's shootings. She groaned and held her broken rib. Comet jumped at her prone form. Raven was as helpless as a newborn baby.

I sailed in a second after Comet took his leap. I mule kicked Comet in the chest and sent him flying like a rocket. He soared over the white trees and landed pretty far off. I made sure to note his descent.

I ran over and checked on myStarfire and Hotspot. Both were quite stable. Starfire had a popped lung, but the blood wasn't welling up into her throat so she could breathe fairly normally. Hotspot just needed some first aid, that I couldn't apply at the moment because his blood would catch me onfire. I did what I could for both.

I then dashedto Raven and looked her over. It was pretty bad. Iscooped Raven up and started carrying her away. She shook the spots from her eyes and looked at me weakly. I gave her a half hearted smile.

"Raven, I'm sorry. I'm not going to be able to keep that promise I made."

"Reaver, I-"

"Shush, heal yourself, and then fix the others. More are on the way, I can feel it."

I set Raven down on a bench. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm not going to let some power tripping bastard beat me." I turned to run.

I stopped when I heard Raven weakly call out "Reaver..."

"Yes, Raven?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks." I darted off.

After I was gone Raven added "I just hope you can make it through this, and still be Reaver when your done."

I had the exact same thought.


	21. A long time coming

Adrian Gabriel Comet, born in 1965 to Rebecca Comet and Abraham Comet. Abraham was the crime boss who had been pretty much running Steel City since the times of prohibition. During that time Abraham lied, cheated, and fought to make himself the only crime lord in the entire town. When he accomplished that he decided to have a son.

His purpose behind having a child was to mold a successor. Abraham was getting old, and he realized that he wouldn't be able to hold onto his city for much longer. And since he didn't trust any of his liutenants to take over when he was gone. A family member seemed to be the only solution. So from the day Adrian dropped out of his wife Abraham was grooming him for command.

From a young age Adrian was given everything. The best teachers, the best lessons, the best toys, everything a child could want. But it was never enough for the little boy, he always wanted more, and did everything he could to get it. His father couldn't be more proud, before he was seven Adrian was already showing signs of being as power hungry and ambitious as his father. Young Comet basked in the praise and glory given to him by his father and everyone else he met. The little man couldn't be happier.

Then when he was twelve, a group of men returned from a raid in metropolis on star labs. They had stolen a matter condensing device from the place. It had the capacity to condense a tank down into a tiny little ball, and then back again. When they returned to their Steel City headquarters the men had taken it directly to Abraham, who at the time was teaching his son and praising him for his success. When the men showed up they set the canister on the desk and Adrian, as little children often are prone to do, wanted to touch it. But when he reached for it one of the men slapped his hand and told him to go away. Now up until this point Comet had almost no concept of discipline, he had recieved almost nothing but praise his entire life, and as a result retaliated when anyone did anything he didn't like.

Later on, after everyone had left the office, he snuck back in where the canister still lay. In his simple, infantile mind he believed that breaking the canister would upset the man and make his father angry with him. Maybe his father would even kill him! So it was with glee in his heart he eagerly tipped the canister onto the ground and watched it crack in two.

Unfortunately when that happened, it began to suck into itself. It started out with very little force, maybe the equivalent of a home vacuum. Within a few seconds however it was a powerful vaccum that began dragging lighter objects into the room into itself. Within another few seconds it was dragging the rug and desk towards itself.

At this point Adrian did the only thing he could, he ran. Or at least started to. Before he had a real chance to run the suction was pulling him back, and into the miniature rift that had formed. Part of Adrian's body was dragged into it.

Fortunately the device had limitations. It had already absorbed an impressive amount of mass back in the lab, and the contents of the room had pushed it to it's breaking point. Half of the little boy's body was what pushed it over the brink. When the container backlashed on itself it expelled all of it's raw matter into the easiest path, Adrian's body. But rather than tear the boy to pieces the mass condensed itself and absorbed into him.

When the boy woke up some hours later he found himself in the house's basement staring up at a hole in the cieling. When he was found he discovered his powers in full.

Adrian was heavy, heavier than most semis, and by concentrating he could alter his density. At his lightest the boy could be knocked over by a stiff wind, and at his heaviest cranes could barely lift him. With his density came strength and toughness that rivaled a tank.

Abraham couldn't be more overjoyed. His own son was now his most powerful minion, a weapon that he could use to accomplish almost any task. Young Comet's lessons became solely devoted to combat training and learning to control his powers. Before he was seventeen he had already expanded his father's empire vastly. Abraham was no longer concerned with a successor, he was just drunk on the power he gained from his super powered minion. As time wore on however, Abraham praised his son less and less, getting to the point where all he recieved for a successful job was a pat on the back and a 'good job'. Adrian became desperate to please his father, and earn the praise and admiration he once recieved.

But, super-powered criminals have a tendency to bring in super powered heroes. A group of metahumans arrived in steel city with the noble goal of cleaning up the town and removing the criminal infestation. Within a day Adrian was dispatched to remove them.

After a day long battle Adrian returned, bruised, battered and broken. Of the five superheroes only two were still alive, and they were badly wounded. Adrian felt he was victorious, but his father felt very differently.

Abraham was furious at his son's failure. He ridiculed, shouted, and overall did everything an angry parent did to a misbehaving child. Comet was dumbstruck. He had never been disciplined before, even in the slightest. It was at this point he realized that his father had ceased grooming him for command. That all the praise he recieved as a child was just meant to buy his loyalty, the words were never born from any sort of actual emotion. His father hadn't been grooming him for command, he had been grooming him to be a tool, a strong figure to lead while his ageing father used him as a puppet. And now he had been demoted to something below that, a grunt. A weapon to be used on anyone who threatened him. Well, Adrian wouldn't stand for that.

Killing his father was easy. By now he was nothing but an old man. Adrian relished that killing, and remembers his dying eyes to this day.

After Abraham died Comet left Steel city to strike out on his own, not wanting to ride on his dead father's coattails any more. The next few years of his life were filled with violence. Comet wandered with no real purpose, occasionally working for a mob boss here or there but never staying in one place for long. During this time Comet scuffled once with another superhero, the man called Superman.

It was a short fight, lasting only about two minutes, but it was a violent two minutes. To his credit, Comet gave The Man of Steel a bruise on his cheek. Comet escaped jail after only 6 months, and returned home to Steel city.

Upon arriving he discovered that the remaining two superheroes from his fight so long ago had been beating back The Broken Moon and were on the verge of destroying the organisation. Comet found this development startling, and then he came up with plan.

Comet destroyed the two remaining heroes easily enough and then seized his father's old syndicate for himself. Using the remaining resources his organisation had to offer he started searching for other supervillains, criminals who were something special. Comet realized that in a world where people like Superman existed, metahumans would be the only real criminals. He saw metahumans as the future of crime.

As far as his arms would reach, he called metahumans to himself with promises of fame and wealth. And they flocked to him in droves. Within a year he had a small army of super-powered warriors at his disposal, and he managed to gather them in almost total secrecy.

It started out small, a bank here, an armored car there. But soon things were growing, cities fell to their knees under the might of The Broken Moon, and they swept away their riches and treasures, and then left before any super-powered talent could arrive. And so they operated for years, increasing their ranks and wealth expnentially. If a city had any local heroes then they followed a simple procedure, send a hired assassin to take out as many as they could and then overwhelm what was left with sheer numbers. It was a good system.

And then the Broken Moon came to Jump City...

* * *

Comet landed like several tons of bricks on the snow of a field. He impacted at an angle so he slid a good hundred feet before he finally stopped. 

The tattered man decreased his weight and dragged himself out of the deep trench he had created. He made a sad attempt at cleaning the mud off of the tatters of his suit. Comet shook his head and looked around his surroundings.

He was in the middle of a picnic area. Severalpicnic tables and a bunch of those rusted barbeques nobody ever uses were laid about nearby. Pine trees rose up high above him. A few pieces of random playground equipment sat in the general vicinity. The whole place had a slight downward slope to it that led down to a flat field and a parking lot

That was all the observation time he got because just then I landed on his back heavily, driving him to the ground. Comet left a deep indentation in the ground, perfectly molded to his shape.With a flick of my ankle I hopped off of the man's back and higher up on the hill.

The latin man sluggishly rose to his feet, wiping the mud off of his face in the process. He grinned at me playfully. I motioned for him to come.

Comet charged at me quickly, covering the distance between us like a bullet. He swung with heavy fist that I actually blocked with my buckler. I quickly darted in and buried a metal laced fist in his gut. Comet gasped, but recovered faster than I thought possible. He grabbed at my fist while I still had it pressed into his midsection and twisted it. I gasped in pain and was forced to twist with it. I fell to my knees, and then Comet kneed me in the face, knocking me flat on my back and stunning me.

When my vision cleared I saw a half naked man falling on me like a, well, a comet. I flipped up and out of the way of the falling death. Comet once again splatted into the snow and wet earth.

I was so thankful for the latest temperature shift. In the last few days the spring thaw had begun. Most the snow had melted away and made the ground a soggy mess. This was why I had been able to actually fight Comet instead of just getting my ass beat.

Comet rolled over and kipped up to his feet. When he turned around I greeted him with the business end of my grenade launcher. He made a wierd squeek noise before I shot him in the face with a concussion grenade. Comet was unbalanced and he went stumbleing backwards. I thumped him with another projectile and knocked him even further back. I cocked my weapon and fired again. Comet stood his ground for this shot, setting his feet and raising his guard.

Comet shifted his feet and darted at me like a missile. I dropped my hold on the 6G-30 and raised my buckler to block. Comet twisted in mid air and changed the course of his attack. I had been predicting a sideways swing, but what I got was a thunderous jab that slammed me right in the solar plexus. I grutned through the pain and stabbed Comet in the forehead.

The heavy man seemed not to notice the long cut above his eye. He reached back and slammed me in the chest with a haymaker uppercut. I flew up, and up, and then a little more up. During this I still could not breathe. Comet's jab had temporarily paralyzed my diaphragm, that and I was blinded by the pain from my shattered ribs. I did a quickie regeneration and then did my best to prepare for my landing.

Regrettably I was slow on my regen, and my landing was sloppy. I landed face first and rebroke my ribs. I screamed out curses of pain and rolled over onto my back.

I could vaguely hear Comet walking over to my broken form. He was chuckling. "You know, I just don't get you Reaver." He bent over and picked me up by the scruff of my necklike he would a puppy. "We both know you got the ability to beat me, how come you won't use it is what I don't know." I barely opened my eyes, but it was enough to see that he was grinning again.

I struggled out "You sound eager. Did you forget what I did to you last time?"

He flipped me over and drove my spine into his outstretched knee. I grimaced, but didn't give him the satisfaction of a scream. He seemed not to notice. "Of course not Reaver. I'll never forget that. Which is why I'm fighting you now." He lightly tossed me up and then slammed me down again with a judo chop to the pelvis. Snow and mud splashed every which way from my impact.

"Think about it Reaver. Didn't you get that feeling of exhilaration. That thrill, that impulse of satisfaction from an impending kill. It euphoric isn't it?" He smiled even wider. "That's not a feeling that a superhero gets Reaver. It's a villain's rush, an evil feeling. You know that just as well as I do."

I rolled away from him and staggered to my feet, attempting to ignore the pain in my entire body. I assumed my defensive stance. Comet ran in at me. "You can fool yourself Reaver, and your little miscreant friends, but you can't fool the people who matter." He did a double handed swing that I blocked with crossed arms, we were grinding. "You can't fool me, or the other criminals you've turned your back on." He surged forward and broke the grind, throwing me back. He smirked and slowly stalked in. "To us your still a villain, and you always will be Reaver. There is no changing that, no matter how hard you try."

I flipped over and drew my Glocks in one swift motion. I started pounding the triggers and dumped bullets into him. He didn't even slow down. Damned rubber rounds.

I stood up and reloaded one before Comet was right in front of me again. He swund sideways. I ducked and then planted the barrel of my weapon on his temple. I squeezed the trigger and Comet stumbled back from the thunderous crack. He shouted and covered his wounded area. When he drew his hand away his fingers were slick with blood. When I looked at his face, I was surprised.

He was grinning, from ear to fricking ear. This wasn't his normal, jackal grin rather, it was one of pure joy and satisfaction. "That was dastardly Reaver. That could have killed me you know, not very heroic if you ask me." He wiped off his hand on his chest and ran at me again.

I ducked low and under his blow. I reached up and planted my hands on his groin and chest. Comet eeped at the invasion of personal space, and then I threw him down the hill. He rolled to a stop some thirty yards away. I ran at him and clawed him in the face before he could get up. Comet howled in pain and flipped over onto his back. I rose my hand to stab him. Comet swept out his leg and swept my feet out from under me. Immediately upon landing Comet was on me, grappling.

I twisted my body and sent the two of us tumbling down the hill in a knot of limbs. There was alot of yelling, grunting, swearing, and even a few gasps of pain as we rolled down the hill like an enormous tumbleweed. We ended our descent on the flat plain at the base of the hill. I kicked up and pushed Comet off of me.

"Give it up Reaver! You can't win this fight as you are." He lunged at me and reached for my throat. I clawed at his arm, but my blade grated off. My eyes bugged out as he put a vice-like hand around my neck.

The look of surprise on my face made Comet laugh out loud.He brushed his foot on the ground and exposed moist blacktop underneath the snow. "We've stumbled into a parking lot Reaver. Now you can't hurt me."

I uselessly pounded his arm. He didn't even wince. Comet tightened his grip on my neck, and I slowly started to die. "Now that I have your attention, back to what I was saying. Why, Reaver? I just can't understand why you suddenly turned your back on the underworld."

All he got wasa slight gurgle in response. Comet loosened up his grip so I could reply.

"I was never one of you Comet, if you knew anything about me 'gasp' you would know that."

"Oh really..."

"Whenever 'gurgle' I took on a job, it was from one crime boss to another. It was killing a rival, and destroying his empire. I would 'gulp' kill a mob boss, and his syndicate would fall in on itself. When I killed a man who controlled prostitutes, his slaves would then go free. When I killed a 'gasp'psychotic despot, he would be succeeded by a far more lenient man."

Comet's eyes widened with realization.

I smirked, and then said "I wasn't an assassin for hire in the underworld, I was a spy. Attempting to undo crime from within. I was being a superhero in my own way. That's what Robin figured out, and that's why I'm fighting you now."

Comet snarled out "WHAT!"

I smirked. "My way wasn't working, four years of fighting crime from the inside hadn't done shit for my cause, so I decided to try a different tactic. In fact Comet, I have to thank you. If it wasn't for you offering me that job all those weeks ago, I never would have got the oppurtunity to switch sides as easily as I did. In a way... you created Reaver." I grinned broadly.

Comet's face instantlybecame bright red and very, very angry. He snarled and squeezed harder, collapsing my wind pipe. "You dirty sonovabitch, I'm going to murder you and then desecrate your corpse for that!" He drew back his hand for another punch.

I pulled the pin on my flash grenade and dropped it to my feet. Comet heard a light metallic thud and looked down just as it went off. Comet screamed in pain and dropped me. I clutched at my throat and began regenerating it so I could breathe. Comet grabbed at his eyes and howled.

The second my throat was fixed I reached around to my back for my shotgun. I had dropped my grenade launcher in our rolling wrestling match, otherwise I would've used that. I loaded up my specialty shells and fired. The slug impacted his chest and ignited into a plume of white phosphorous. I ejected to spent casing and continued my assault.

Comet began running, his entire torso aflame. His mass protected him somewhat from the fire, but not much. He threw himself down into the snow and began rolling around to put himself out. I took this oppurtunity to take in my surroundings. I saw something ahead of me in the field that made me grin widely. I ran at Comet's prone form.

The sudden shock of being lit aflame had ruined the minute amount of concentration it took to keep Comet at his rediculous mass. When I ran up to him he was only at about three or four tons. I punted him like a football. The burning man sailed through the air and landed a good hundred feet away in a field. I managed to catch the irony of a man named Comet falling to the earth on fire.

When Comet hit the ground, there was a high splash. I nodded in satisfaction and turned my eyes back to the sign I saw just a moment before. A yellow and black 'no swimming' sign with a little stick person swimming that had an 'X' through it. I had booted Comet into a city pond.

I calmy strode over the lake to the hole in the ice where a sputtering Comet was weakly holding onto the edge. I could hear his teeth chattering from ten feet away.

Comet looked up at me as I walked over to the edge of his hole. I drew my Glock and aimed right at his head.

"Adrian Comet, your under arrest."

Comet lowered his head like a beaten dog. I had him beat and he knew it. He couldn't increase his mass in the water because he would sink, and the even if he did and tried to walk along the bottom either he would fall deeper into the mud at the bottom of the lake or he would die of frostbite, and then still have to deal with me.

Comet looked around desperately for a solution to fall into his lap. When none were forthcoming he grimly nodded.

I moved to call my teammates when Comet piped up "You know Reaver... I think you could have been one of the greats." That made me pause. "One of the truly memorable criminals like Al Capone or Bonnie and Clyde, one of the people who are remembered for decades. There would be History channel specials on you." He paused "But now your just another pathetic superhero that nobody will remember, I pity you."

"Comet, I'm not going to lecture to you, I would appreciate the same from you." I turned my attention back to my communicator.

Suddenly the ice beneath my feet shifted, and then rose his arm dramatically in shower of ice. The bastard had uppercutted the ice underneath my.

I plunged into the icyness and immediately lost feeling in several parts of my body. I gasped out all my air.

Comet roughly grabbed my arm, and then I wasdescending deeper into the frigid waters. I could faintly see Comet's grinning face in the through the water. He was still holding my arm. He reared back with his other fist and wailed me in the jaw. I saw atrail of blood leak from my mouth and stain the water momentarily. Before I knew it Comet was rearing back for another punch.

I twisted my arm and barely pulled it out of his grasp. With a flutter of my feet I was rising back up to the surface.

I stopped dead as Comet grabbed onto my foot. He swung me like a bat and slammed me into the muddy pondfloor. A cloud of silt rose up and obscured my sight. I focused and switched to my life sense.

Comet was a few feet away from me, looking around in confusion. I ignored the fire in my lungs and swam up behind him. He didn't know I was there until it was far too late.

I reached around him and gave him a powerful heimlich strike to the gut. I saw a flurry of bubbles fly out of his mouth and eagerly rise to the surface. Comet whirled around but missed with his wild swing. I kicked off the floor and moved to ragged hole in the ice.

Comet kicked up, but only moved a short distance before sinking back down. He had tried to jump, but couldn't get proper traction on the uneven ground. Panicing now, Comet decreased his weight and started floating up. He hit the ice and slowly worked his way over to the hole he had formed before.

I dove back in from the surface and whirled in the water, aiming my Glock. I fired off two shots, each one finding a home in one of his knees. Comet let out a mute scream as blood welled up from each of legs. I was so glad I paid the extra two hundred dollars for the underwater action function.

Comet struggled to reach the hole, but with his legs hanging in uselessness he couldn't make it. I floated in the water, grimly watching him enter the early stages of drowning. He started reaching for the hole in the ice, no longer possessing the capacity for rational thought. Within a minute his spasms had ceased and he had gone unconscious.

I floated over to him and dragged his limp form over to the surface. I dragged to two of us out of the water. I gasped and hugged myself, rubbing my arms to restore circulation. I looked down at Comet and sighed at the task ahead of me.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the battle/baseball field from before.

The other Titans had recovered, and dealt with a few more people who had shown up. The criminals were laid in a line, all handcuffed. There had to be at least thirty of them.

All the other Titans and the temps had gathered there. Nobody was seriously hurt. At the moment they were in the process of carting off the villains.

Starfire saw me first. She was flying around over the site making sure nobody made a run for it. I broke the tree line and started trudging towards my team.

Starfire made a bee line for me the moment I came into view. In about two seconds I had a smiling Tamaranian right in my face.

"Reaver, I am joyous you are unhar-" She stopped when she got a good look at me "Um, are you well Reaver?"

"To be perfectly honest Starfire, no. I feel like hammered shit."

"Well, I hope the feeling of bludgeoned fecal matter passes shortly" She smiled slightly.

I smiled back. Robin approached me. "Reaver, what happened." He was limping slightly.

"Oh, hello Robin. Good to see your alive. Yeah take care of him for me k" I gestured to the bleeding form of Comet that I was dragging behind me. "I'm going to pass out now, goodnight." And then I fell over into sweet, sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

A couple of hours later I woke up in my room. I shook my head and was puzzled by the fact that somebody changed my clothes. I got up and took a long, very hot shower.

When I came out of my bathroom I saw Robin standing in my bedroom. "We need to talk."

I glanced around nervously. "Okay, but can I get dressed first. I typically don't carry on conversations in a towel."

"This can't wait." He crossed his arms. "I just got the medical report on Comet back. He's in critical condition, they don't know if his knees can be put back together. You may have crippled him for life."

"Well, that's a damn shame."

"I'm serious Reaver! I don't care the circumstances, you caused permanent injury to a person! Do you have any idea how many rules that breaks?"

"Nope, and I don't care." I walked over to my dresser and pulled open one of the drawers. My back was to The Boy Wonder.

"Well you better start to care. There's talk about you getting tried for that little stunt." I snorted at that "You could get kicked off the team Reaver." he narrowed his eyes. "I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen, but you need to clean up your act."

"Really, you would do that for me Robin. Why?"

"Because your an invaluable part of this team."

I scoffed. "Please Robin, that's bullshit and you know it. We both know why you want me to stay on this team."

Robin grit his teeth, I continued to rummage in the drawer. "It's because you know that if I left this team, I would turn back to what I was doing before. I would resume being Man, and continue to kill people to make the world a better place. And you can't stand for that can you? That's why you let me on this team in the first place, to keep me from being the way I was. I'm not an idiot Robin, don't even begin to think that I am."

Robin pursed his lips. I continued "I don't fault you for that at all Robin. Truthfully I'm impressed that you could be so manipulative. Batman must have trained you well." I closed the drawer. "Do what you will, but once again I'll warn you that whatever choice you make will have consequences. You can play to your superhero instincts and kick me off the team for what I did to Comet, or you can fight to keep me on this team and bear the slings and arrows of the people. Choose quickly."

Robin stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity. "I won't turn you loose on the world Reaver. You can stay, but I have just one question."

"You may ask."

"Why did you do that to him. Your a clever fighter, I'm sure you could have done something else that wouldn't cripple him."

I sighed "That... is an answer for another time Robin. I promise you that someday I'll give you an answer, but I can't now. If you could please do me a favor and get out of my room. I'm getting a mighty draft."

Robin didn't respond but I heard his metal boots walk out of my room.

I let out my breath, and looked over the gun I had drew from my drawer. I was glad I didn't have to use it. I popped out the clip and slid it back under a pile of socks.


	22. Poolside talks

Things had returned to normalcy around the tower. The temporary Titans had left shortly after Comet was caught. It had happened quick, I went to my room one day and when I came out for food they were gone. I rememberBumblebee saying something about Brother Blood being in Steel City. That was two weeks ago.

There had been absolutely no crimes during that entire period. This was a huge change since the longest time I had gone without a crime since joining the Titans was two days.

Robin had kept his word and cleared up the whole scandal about what I had done to Comet, saying 'it was necessary' and 'he posed too large a risk'. I was thankful for that.

At the moment I was continuing my lessons on firearm handling with BeastBoy. He was getting better with them. Now he only flinched whenever he fired.

I popped another clip into my warm Glock, and then a though occurred to me. "Hey BeastBoy."

"Yeah Reav?"

"Don't call me Reav. Why hasn't your gunshyness ever been noticed and taken care of before? I mean, you've had to have dealt with people with firearms in the field right?"

He shrugged "To be honest, I've only fought someone who carried a gun three times."

"Three times?" I said increduously.

"Yeah, most people use laser weapons. You were there for one of the times remember? On the skyscraper? I couldn't do anything against them, I just ran around thinking 'oh shit' over and over again." He popped off another round. It hit dead on.

"Well, I'm glad your getting over it now. Just one more question."

"Shoot"

I did so "What caused your fear of guns?" BeastBoy's face immediately went grave. I quickly followed up "If you don't want to tell me you don't have to."

"Nah it's alright. It's because... of the first time I fought someone with a gun." He stopped there and set down his weapon.

I immediately understood. He was shot, or at least saw someone get seriously hurt with a gun. Neither were nice experiences.

Much to my surprise at that moment there was a loud 'Ding-Dong'. I looked around, quite confused. "Was that a... Doorbell?"

BeastBoy unloaded his gun and set it down. "Yeah, must be a package or something" he turned and left the gym.

I was left standing there. I shook my head and ran after him muttering "This place _has _a doorbell?"

* * *

BeastBoy reached the bottom of the tower first. By the time I had taken the stairs a brown UPS truck was driving away and an enormous wooden crate was left on the doorstop. 

I walked up behind BeastBoy. "What is this thing." BeastBoy shrugged. "I don't know, don't touch it though, it's probably dangerous."

"Why not just open it?"

"Last time we opened up a crate we all got our souls sucked out and shoved into little wooden puppets."

I paused "We've led very different lives, you and I"

BeastBoy chuckled.

We called down everyone else and did every scan, test, and check we could on this thing. Everything came back A-okay, so we cracked it open.

Inside was the most pristine acnbeutiful Pool Table I have ever, and probably will ever see. The wood of the table were made of a dark mahogany, and a layer of burgundy felt covered the top of it. The wood on the sides were so perfectly carved I doubted that a person had built it, but rather some sort of Pool Table god. A set of matching ques were wrapped up in plastic on top of it and two racks of balls. There was an envelope on top of it.

Robin took the initiative and walked up to the table . He tore open the envelope and scanned the contents briefly. He seemed to roll his eyes under his mask.

"It's a gift from somebody named 'Randy Cooper'. He made this as a gift for us saving his store."

I brightened. "Nice. I'll drag it upstairs you guys tell me where-"

"We can't keep this."

I stopped dead. "Huh?"

Raven spoke up "We get stuff like this all the time. Gifts, presents, all because we saved them. We have a rule saying we can't keep any of it of course. So we have to send it all back." Everyone else nodded.

I looked around helplessly. "Okay, so nobody is gonna protest this. BeastBoy, c'mon, you'd love pool."

BeastBoy simpered and shook his head. "Naw, I went through this a long time ago with a bunch of games some guy from the mall sent us. I begged Robin for a week to let us keep them, but he just said 'We cannot show favoritism to the masses' or something like that."

Robin continued BeastBoy's statement "If we start accepting gifts,people will think that they need to buy us off for our protection, when we all know that isn't true. We can't let people think we favor anyone over anyone else."

I thought for a moment. "Well, screw that! I'll just buy the table from him." Everyone cringed.

Robin scowled "That's just as bad as accepting it. Besides I won't allow you to use Titan resources on a pool table."

"Hello, I'm independently wealthy! I'll just mail the guy four thousand bucks, say it's for the table, and call it even." I started to drag the table towards the elevator.

The Boy wonder slapped a green glove on the burgundy table top. I stopped and looked up at him. He was grinding his teeth. "Reaver, don't."

"What the hell is the problem Robin? If I'm willing to pay for it, I see no problem. Guys, back me up on this." I looked to my team mates.

Cyborg rubbed the flesh part of his head "Well, if he's buying it..."

Robin sighed and flung up his hands and yelled "Fine, keep the damn thing! But you better send that guy the money you promised!"

I just nodded before I resumed moving the table to the elevator.

* * *

We finagled the table into an empty room on the middle level. We set it up and divied ourselves up into teams. Starfire and me versus Cyborg and BeastBoy. Starfire had break. Raven had retreated to the solitude of her room. 

I had explained the basics of the game to her, like trying to get a ball into one of the corner pockets andhow to hold the stick. Unfortunately, as I saw her rearing her stick back for her shot, I remembered one thing I had overlooked.

And that was how hard you were supposed to hit the thing.

Starfire beat that ball like it owed her money. One second I'm sitting there waiting for my turn, and then the next I'm dodging airborn wooden missiles. One of the things cracked me on the back of the head, and then all I knew was darkness.

When I regained consciousness a good ten minutes later we racked them up again. Except this time I broke.

We lost the first game. Truth be told I wasn't really all that good at pool, and Starfire still had no idea how to play. When we were taking the table up here she commented that she thought that pool was played with a large body of water in a cemented hole. I just laughed.

I attempted to strike up a conversation. "So, what was up with Robin before. I had no idea that The Boy Wonder was such a stick in the mud."

Starfire scrunched up her face in confusion. "Please, why is-"

"It means he's a killjoy Starfire. A buzzkill, a boring person" I shot a stripe at the corner pocket and missed.

Cyborg furrowed his brow. "Hey man, don't talk about Robin that way. I've known him alot longer than anyone here, Robin is not a stick in the mud, he's just... very serious about being a superhero."

"Well that's understandable, but he seems to hate doing it. You all have probably seen it, he hates being a superhero, and he wants us to hate it too. He acts like he was forced into becoming a vigilante against his will."

BeastBoy shot the ball and missed entirely, somehow still sinking the solid two when he was aiming at the three. "Maybe he was. I have no idea what Robin's life was like before he joined the Titans, he could have been forced into it. Most of us were." Cyborg gestured at the others in the room.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Cyborg nodded and gestured at his titanium frame. "Do think I did this to myself on purpose? I was in an accident, a bad one. They pretty much had to rebuild me from the ground up. Not much was left."

I let concern show on my face.

Cyborg continued "Don't worry about it man. That was a long time ago, I'm over it."

BeastBoy accidently knocked one of my side's balls into the corner pocket. Cyborg glared at the little man. Starfire took her shot and missed. I attempted to lighten the mood "So, BeastBoy, how did you come about your powers. Spray of chemicals, magic, radiation from a meteor?"

BeastBoy shook his head. "Naw, mine was this weird disease I had as a kid. The cure caused some sort of chemical reaction in my blood. It's all too confusing for me. Anyways, now my normal form is this green elf."

"So how does that explain your sudden ability to manifest mass?"

BeastBoy shrugged.

"How long have you had your powers?"

"Since I was six."

I whistled "Bet that was rough going to school and all."

"I was homeschooled by my mom and dad. And when they...passed away I was taught by on set tutors."

Cyborg chimed in. "On set? YOU were an actor?"

BeastBoy looked at him wryly. "Hell yeah I was! A damn fine actor too! I was on a science fiction show way back."

"What show?"

"Star Quest."

I furrowed my brow. "Never heard of it"

Cyborg smirked "I know what your talking about. That was some crappy show that aired during the nineties. It was a mix between Star Trek, Star Wars, and a giant pile of manure."

BeastBoy scowled at Cyborg. Starfire giggled, and I laughed, ruining my shot. I shook my head in dismay. "Starfire, how did you get your powers anyway?"

Starfire smiled. "Well, on my home planet of Tamaran there are many others like me. When a Tamaranian is born with red hair that is a-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, stop right there." I shook my hand to stop her. "what do you mean by 'home planet'?"

Starfire looked wounded for a moment. "I am a Tamaranian Reaver."

I still looked confused until Cyborg spoke "She's an alien Reaver."

I looked back and forth between the two, stopped and took a deep breath. "Well... that's... odd."

"Dude, how could you not figure that out? Haven't you listened to the way she talks? Or tasted what she cooks? Didn't anyone tell you she was an alien?"

"No, no they didn't. I had absolutely no idea. I just thought she was a very innocent person from some strange country."

The two boys looked at me like I was an idiot. "What? Oh, like it's a logical conclusion to come to anyways! Who immediately assumes somebody is an alien when they act oddly! Anyways, continue Starfire."

"Very well. When a Tamaranian is born with red hair that is a sign that they are of the aristocracy. Members of the aristocracy can use starbolt and fly. Unfortunately only a small number of people are born to the aristocracy, only 1 in every 1000 are born randomly, however there are many family lines that pass on aristocracy through the blood lines. That is how I have my powers. I am the youngest member of house And'r, one of such bloodlines."

"So, red hair equals superpowers amongst your people?"

"That and black hair, although such a thing is often believed to be a sign of wickedness." She said the last part with a hint of lament in her voice. The other two boys looked down at the ground.

I went with the side of tact and didn't press the issue. "Very interesting story Starfire. Thank you for sharing it with me. Eight ball, corner pocket." I sunk the last ball and won the game. I started racking up the balls for the next game when I noticed everyone was staring at me, waiting for something.

"What?"

"C'mon man, now you gotta tell." Cyborg leaned on his que.

I sheepishly smiled "You guys don't want to hear that..."

"Yeah we dodude, spill. Tell us how you got to be so fast and strong. And that claw thing, and that awesome shield. Oh yeah, and the healing. That's gotta be a sweet story!"

"Yes, bestow upon us how you gained your abilities."

"That, is a very long and very, very bloody story that to understand you would need to know tons of things about me and my clan."

"We don't need to know your life story, just how you got your powers man." Cyborg finished racking the balls up.

"Well, that in and of itself is one of the bloodiest parts of my life..."

I was mercifully kept from continuing by a a loud piercing alarm and Robin's voice blaring over the intercom "TITANS, TROUBLE!"

We abandoned the table and filed out of the room like the wind.


	23. Setup

We showed up about fifteen minutes later at an enormous corporate headquarters on the north end. The only information we had been given was that there was a break-in.

We arrived on the scene after a throng of police cars. When we pulled up there was a man in a business suit and a person in a security uniform talking to a cop.

We pulled up and assembled. Police Chief Schmidt approached us.

Robin addressed him "What's the deal chief?"

Schmidt flipped a paper on his clipboard and read a little bit before responding. "We got a call around noon about a robbery. We arrived and found that the guy had come in during the night and taken what he wanted. The security guard called us after a lab tech in the basement found some stuff missing and reported to him."

"What was taken?"

"five kilograms of... zino-,zinoth-. Dammit I can't read this. How the hell do you pronounce this?" He let Robin see the clip board.

"Zinotheum Ore." Robin narrowed his eyemask The rest of the Titans gasped, except me.

"What's Zinotheum?"

Cyborg turned to me. "Zinotheum is a very unstable element. It's as rare as Uranium and five times as dangerous. If a Zinotheum power core the size of your fist had a meltdown it would have an explosion as powerful as Hiroshima" I let out a long whistle.

Robin spoke again. "I can only think of two people who would want Zinotheum. Professor Chang or... Red-X."

Raven droned "And I know for a fact that Chang is still in prison, so it has to be X."

"He must have found a way to rebuild the belt. Titans, search the entire area. I want to find something telling us where X is. Move out!"

We did so.

* * *

Ten minutes later. 

Robin and I were in the basement of the building, searching away for clues. My cats were doing a bang up job of sniffing around for anything Red-X may have left behind. Robin was using more mundane methods to search, scanners and such. I was reading through police reports on the incident.

Robin was steely quiet. I thought I had seen The Boy Wonder serious before, but apparently I was wrong. I attempted to break the ice.

"So, Robin... you've fought this 'Red-X' guy before. Anything I should know about him?"

Robin gave no response.

"Powers, strengths, weaknesses? Any tactics I should know about?"

Still no response.

"Your still mad about the Pool Table aren't you?"

Robin sighed "No Reaver, it's not that. I've just been thinking about, X. His power suit possesses many amazing gadgets. I should know, I'm the one who built it."

I blinked. "What, did X copy your design or something?"

"No, he stole it and tried to use it to get more zinotheum to act as a fuel source. One kilogram of high grade zinotheum can keep the suit running for months at it's highest level. Though I never intended it to be run for so long. If X keeps operating at the level he was atwhen he fought us before, the suit will burn out in about two weeks. When that happens, well, Cyborg told you, right?"

"Boom" I signed an explosion with my hands for emphasis.

Robin grimly nodded "So nothing beyond finding him is important right now." Robin returned to his work.

I was quiet for a minute. "Why did you make the suit in the first place?"

"Hey, I just thought of something. Give me that report." He snatched the clipboard from me and quickly scanned it, and then got a clever grin on his face. "Aha, the type of zinotheum stolen was low density."

"So?"

"The suit can only run on high density zinotheum ore. Any other type and it can't function. It's like putting unleaded in a space shuttle."

"And that means?"

"He may have taken more zinotheum from another source. Probably in the same building. I have to go find out where this company stores their high density ore." Robin turned to leave.

I shrugged "Whatever you say Fearless Leader."

* * *

A good fifteen minutes later all the Titans and a man in a white labcoatwere standing outside of an obscenely large vault. We had asked the head scientist here if we could check the inventory of their high grade zinotheum and see if any was taken. There were no electronic inventories to check because such an outlet could be hacked, and no video surveillance was available. So the only thing we could do was go in and manually check. 

The head scientist punched a couple codes into machine, and then put in more codes, a retinal scan, a palm read, a blood sample and a voice test. It was ridiculous.

When all that was done the seven of us, not including my cats, continued onward. As we entered the vault the doorway closed again witha loud hiss and a 'clunk'. We passed by several other security checkpoints before we got to the main chamber.

The only thing in this room was a glowing cylinder of blue, shimmering energy. Inside this shield was a large red canister. Next to the shield there was a computer terminal. The lab technician approached it and, with a few passwords, lowered the field. The canister fell to the floor.

Cyborg walked up to it and looked at the readout on the side, then his brow furrowed in confusion. "The canister is full, none of it's been stolen."

Robin said "Maybe X doesn't know what kind of Zinotheum the suit takes, or this new belt accept lower grades."

Cyborg moved to put the canister back in force field. However, when he held the canister out it flew from his hand and across the room.

Cyborg exclaimed "What the hell?" I shared the sentiment.

The canister seemed to land on something that was suspended a few feet off the ground. There was this odd ripple in the air next to the container. It was like that ripple effect air gets in the summer time. Fading in from nowhere, a man in a black jumpsuit stood there.

Underneath the suit I wouldn't be surprised if this person was Robin. He had an identical build and was almost the exact same height. The suit everyone kept talking about was jet black save a red X mark on his chest. His mask was a leering, jawless human skull with a similar red mark on the forehead. A tattered cape hung down to his knees.

He spoke in an electronic drone. "Hey there kiddies, thanks for opening the vault for me. Couldn't have gotten in here otherwise." He spun the container in his gloved finger.

Robin grit his teeth "Red X..."

"The one and only chuckles. Now, if you'll excuse me" He moved his hand down to his belt.

A birdarang sailed in from seemingly nowhere and nailed the canister in X's hand. The cylinder soared across the room and settled at the base of a wall. X followed it's descent with his eyes.

Robin dashed forward like a bullet. He extended his staff and swung down on X. The skull faced man easily dodged to the side, and dodged the followup attack Robin launched. Robin jabbed with the butt end of the staff. X swiftly rose his hand and grabbed the weapon and pulled. Robin saw this coming, and loosened his grip on the staff. When he yanked back, his balance was lost and Robin planted a metal boot in his chest. X let out an electronic grunt and stumbled back.

During his stumble X pointed his palms at Robin. A pair of giant red crosses shot out of his hands and nailed Robin full in the chest. The Xs carried Robin back and stuck him to the far wall. Robin uselessly tugged at his restraints.

"You need some more practice kid."

X made a mad dash for the canister. The remaining Titans opened fire. A flurry of green starbolts, blue beams, and black energy flew at Red X. The man displayed remarkable skill and agility, dodging every single attack launched at him with practiced ease. X was getting dangerously close to the container.

Starfire flew in and unsuccessfully struck at X. Raven was more successful, backhanding X away with a talon of black while he was distracted. Without missing a beat, X rolled and launched himself in the air, hurling a flurry of red shurikens in the process.

Raven summoned a forcefield of black around her and Starfire to block the projectiles. Upon landing X was dashing back at them. Raven and Starfire charged their respective powers.

X once again flashed his palms and flung another crimson cross. Raven and Starfire were taken aback. The X stretched out ludicrously and wrapped around the two women. The elastic X constricted around them and crushed them against one another face to face.

You could sense X smirking under his mask. "You two should get a room."

A giant beam of blue energy shot out at struck the floor at X's feet. The resulting explosion knocked X onto his behind. A green rhino rushed at X and planted a scooped him up with it's horn. X was tossed into the air like a sack of potatoes. Cyborg fired another blue stream and drove X into the ceiling. We all heard him groan.

During his fall, he said "Screw this, I'm getting out of here." He reached down to his belt and turned the buckle. There was this odd noise and a flicker of black, and he was gone. An instant later he reappeared over the canister of Zinotheum. He grabbed the cylinder and began fiddling with his belt again.

I took action. With powerful leap I landed right next to X, and was able to slam him in face with a metal laced fist before he could react. He flew back and landed a good twenty feet away, the canister was between us. X grunted out "What the, who are you?"

I smiled "Name's Reaver, bitch."

I whipped out my Mossberg and opened fire. X started dodging madly, fading back away from my shots. I fired off my last shell as he did his fancy teleportation trick again.

I looked around for him, and then felt a very powerful shock at the back of my neck. I stumbled to the ground in pain, my body paralyzed from the shock. During my fall I rolled over, and I saw red electricity sparking all over X's hand.

The black-clad villain dashed back over to the canister and snatched it up. Cyborg fired off a potshot that forced X into a dodging retreat. BeastBoy darted in as a cheetah and was in front of X. He morphed into gorilla and slammed down with fists the size of hams. X sidestepped and popped out a cross shaped blade from his wrist. With a swift downward swing he cut a long line down BeastBoy's forearm. The changeling morphed back into a green elf and clutched his bleeding arm.

X seemed to grimace "Ooo, sorry about that green boy, you should get that looked at."

"Huh?" BeastBoy looked up just in time to get belted in the face. BeastBoy was out cold. Red X turned around and faced a very angry robot.

Cyborg punched X right in the gut. X bent with the blow and was able to keep his footing, so he was ready for Cyborg's next attack. The robotic teenager jabbed out with a charged sonic cannon, but X caught the blow and held on. The blades sprouting from wrist began to spin like a circular saw. X swung down and began cutting off Cyborg's arm at the elbow.

Cyborg yanked back, and in the process tore off the last of his arm and fell to the ground. X looked over his new trophy.

"Yo! Give that back!" Cyborg got up. X spun the arm around, pointed it atCyborg, and gave it a powerful smack. The energy still inside the cannon discharged, right into Cyborg.

The blue stream drove Cyborg into the back wall, shattering a good portion of it and covering Cyborg in debris.

Red X blinked, presumably, and tucked the arm next to the Zinotheum canister. He started fiddling with his belt again.

I had partially recovered by this time, enough to stand. I whipped out my Glock and opened fire. My aim was clumsy at best, but I was able to get X to take his hands off his belt.

"Your resilient, I'll give you that. But it's going to take alot more than that to beat Red X."

"Of course, something to the tune of an angry redhead sucker punching you in the head. STARFIRE NOW!"

The eyes of X's mask widened and he whirled around and saw, nothing. It was at this point that I sucker punched him in the head, knocking him to the ground. He let out an electronic grunt.

"My hair's not red, hope you'll forgive me." I cracked my knuckles.

He rubbed the back of his head. "That was a dirty trick."

"Yeah well I'm a dirty bastard." I lunged down at him with my claw.

He flipped up his palm and launched a caustic, gooey X at me. It nailed me right in the face.

I heavily slammed the ground and sputtered out "Oh god! My mouth was open and everything!" I immediately began wretching.

X calmly resumed fiddling with his belt, and in a few seconds he was gone from our presence.

In his wake he left behind two unconscious Titans, three tied up ones, and one that wished he was one of the other five.


	24. Communication Breakdown

Fifteen minutes later we walked into the main room of the T-tower, more or less in the same states we were in back at the vault.

BeastBoy's nose was obviously broken and a steady stream of blood poured from it. His arm had been hastily bandaged. He was still unconscious, and was carried over Cyborg's shoulder, who was still missing his right arm. There was a nasty cut on the fleshy part of his head that bled a line of blood down his back and unfortunately got all over BeastBoy.

Robin was still tied up. When he had managed to pry himself off of the wall, the entire X had constricted and wrapped around him even more thoroughly. He didn't want to take it off in the field and risk hurting himself, so he had made the decision to wait.

Starfire floated in with Raven still plastered to her. Starfire was much taller than Raven so she could see over the goth girl's head, so she led them. The flipside of this was that Raven's face was buried in Starfire's chest. I'm glad BeastBoy was out cold, otherwise I'm sure that Raven would have broken alot more than his nose.

As for me, that goo had seeped through my clothes and pretty much gotten everywhere. My coat was ruined, as were all the clothes I was wearing. One of my eyes was glued shut, and so was my nose. I would have cleared the breathing passage but my arms were rather difficult to move at the moment, as were my legs. I was reduced to moving everywhere in short little hops.

Everyone was quiet for a minute. I decided to break the silence.

"What the hell just happened?"

Cyborg set down BeastBoy "We got beat man, it happens."

"Yeah, I got that, but why? From what I've seen he's just a gothic looking ballerina dancer in a fancy getup, and somehow he brought us down, and brought us down hard."

Robin fiddled with his restraints "His suit is very powerful, and I'm assuming that before he stole it he was already a master thief. He demonstrates abilities in martial arts that are on par with me. Augmented by the suit he can be very powerful."

"Okay, that would have been handy to know a half an hour ago. Y'know, before I got splooged on, and the rest of us were defeated in similarly embarassing fashions. Speaking of which, can you please tell me why I wasn't told anything about him before hand? Because I'm fairly certain that if you had deigned to inform me of our opponent, Iwould be standing here laughing at a certain unconscious black clad ballerina, instead of coughing up globs of red glue."

A reply came from Raven, but it was muffled by her alien counterpart. Starfire translated "Um... I believe she requested that we discuss strategy after we are no longer constrained, she then went on to say many other words that Robin tells me I'm not allowed to say."

I pried at the solidifying goo. "Good point. I'm going to my room to scrape this stuff off after I cut you two and Robin free. Raven can heal BeastBoy and Robin can help fix Cyborg." I pried my arm from my torso, and in a few quick cuts, my three teammates were able to move. Raven gasped when she was freed from Starfire's apparently stuffy bosom.

I was gone in a flash. The goo was starting to chafe.

Cyborg looked at Robin. "Dude, don't you usually say stuff like that?"

Robin grit his teeth "Yeah..."

* * *

The damn goo was ridiculously tough. My attempts to shave it off just got my claw stuck to me. I wandered into the shower stall in my bathroom and attempted to scrub the offending gunk. 

Ten minutes into the scrubbing I heard my door open and a pair of metal boots clunked on my tile.

"Yes Robin?"

"I need to talk to you Reaver."

"Can this wait, I'm in the middle of literally scrubbing off my failure."

"No it can't. I need to do this now."

"Fine, what?" I flung open the door to the stall.

Robin winced and covered his eyes before he realised I was still clothed. "Why are you still wearing your clothes?"

"I tried to yank them off and lost alot of hair in the process. Need I go on?"

"No. I need to talk to you about your conduct earlier. I don't think-"

"Alright, I give up." I pried at the steel wool that was now stuck to my arm. "What dissolves this?"

"Alcohol. I don't think you had any right to undermine my authority like that. I'm the leader of this team, and I'm the one who gives orders."

"Yeah, um, excuse me. Thank you." I shoved Robin aside and grabbed a bottle of Gin from underneath the sink. I stepped back in the stall and popped it. I then began pouring the liquid on my head.

"I think you need to take a step back Reaver. Let me lead my team. I've been at this for many years and I think I know a little bit more about being a leader than you."

"Excuse me, I must have gotten Gin in my ears, what was that last part?"

"I think I know a bit more about being a leader than you."

I smirked and let out a little chuckle. I turned away and shook my head, continuing to bathe myself in liquor.

"What, you think you could do better?" Robin sounded on the verge of violence.

"No Robin, that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm sure you are a fine leader. It's just that hearing you say that you had more experience than me in that matter, well... I was just laughing at the irony."

"Excuse me, I thought you were a lone assassin before you joined the Titans?" The Boy Wonder crossed his arms.

"This is true, but it doesn't mean that I was a lone badass before that. I've led entire battalions Robin, and a few smaller groups. I've had a go around the block."

"Hmm, impressive resume for someone so young."

"...Yes it is." I turned on the shower head and rinsed off the booze.

"But that isn't why I came here Reaver. I'm the leader of this team, not you. You have no authority to give orders to this team. Got that?"

I gave him a flippant gesture "Sure... Whatever."

"Don't just wave me off like that Reaver! I won't have somebody on this team undermining my authority. It's disrespectful and makes the others view me differently. I am a capable leader and I will be treated as such."

I shook my head. "Robin, Robin, Robin, I will treat you as such, when you act as such."

Robin stared daggers of ice right in my heart "What?"

"Come now Robin, I'm sure you heard me. I'll break it down for you. You are not a good leader."

I could hear Robin's teeth grinding. "You are walking a dangerous line here Reaver. I suggest you pick your next few words carefully. Very, very carefully."

"Robin, think. What could you have done to be a better leader today? Could it be, telling one of your team members about an opponent we know we're going to face eventually? I'm gonna go with yes, but that never happened." I stood up and set down the empty bottle of Gin.

"Maybe you have a viable excuse. Such as, maybe I never asked. Maybe you never had an oppurtunity to properly inform me. Oh wait, you had both! Because as I recall, we sat in complete silence for fifteen minutes after you had already deduced that the guy we were looking for was, in fact, Red X!"

I had been stepping forward throughout this entire beratement. Robin was stepping back, his face showing lines of worry.

"But no, you decided that being an angsty little bastard was a better fucking idea. That standing there in a brooding silence for fifteen goddamn minutes was a more effective use of your time." We had backed fully into my room by now.

"You wanna know who's fault it is that Cyborg had his arm chopped off? Whose fault it is that BeastBoy has a broken face and a cut so deep it scratched the bone? Whose fault it is that Starfire and Raven were bound together like they were in some sort of fetish video? Or whose fault it is that I got electrocuted and covered in elmers from hell? Or whose fault it is that a walking, talking, thieving nuclearbomb is running around for the hell of it?It's yours Robin, nobody's but yours."

Robin was almost outside of my room full now, we were only about ten feet away from the doorway to the hall. "So you can get all your angst, your unnecessary badassness, your darkness and noir, and shove it up your scrawny little ass. Get your act together and lead this team Robin. You may think that you know how to lead this team, but so far all I've seen from you is asking for advice and acting on it. If you are going to claim to lead these kids, then act like it, and stop being an angsty little bitch. Either rise to the occasion or fade away Robin." I slammed the panel and the door whooshed shut with a finalized thud.

* * *

For a moment Robin just stood there outside the door, completely lacking anything to say. He raised his fist to say something to the air. "Yeah, well this is my team Reaver! I"ll lead it however I see fit! If you don't it, you can just pack up and leave!" 

It took a moment for Robin to realise that absolutely nobody was listening. The Boy Wonder slumped his shoulders and walked away.

He barely took five steps before he walked into Starfire. His head thumped into the tall alien's shoulder, causing the two of them to gasp.

"Oh, sorry Star. Should have been watching where I was going."

"No apologies are necessary, the fault was mine." The Tamaranian was carrying a large roll of gauze and other medical supplies.

"Um, Star. What are those for?" He pointed at the supplies bundled in her arms.

"These are for BeastBoy. Raven was unable to fully heal the cut the Red X inflicted on him."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about him." The masked Titan's shoulders slumped even more.

Starfire cocked her head to the side. "Robin, what is the matter."

Robin gave no response.

"Robin" Starfire said more insistently.

The Boy Wonder was shook out of his daydream. "Huh, oh, nothing Star. Nothing's wrong."

"Please, I can tell that something is the matter. Tell me Robin, you can trust me."

Robin smiled slightly "I know Starfire, but this is something I need to work on myself." Robin sidled past her and continued to walk on.

Starfire stood confused.


	25. Ballroom Blitz

That shit was tough to get out.

I'm talking about the goo of course. The alcohol had dissolved the goo for the most part, but it was still like having glue all over my body. The clothes were salvageable but they would need a few rounds in the washing machine.

I heard a light knocking on the door of my bathroom. I assumed it was Robin coming back after thinking up a witty retort to throw at me. I turned off the shower and threw on a towel.

"Alright Robin, what do you have to say now? Oh shit Starfire!" I opened the door to see the orange Tamaranian standing there, and I was wearing a frickin towel. "Um... hi"

"Greetings Reaver. I have need to speak to you." She sidled past me and sat down on a stool in the middle of the room.

I flipped on the fan to get rid of the steam and the reek of alcohol that I'm sure was there. "Alright, but can you make this quick? I was sorta in the middle of something."

"Out in the hall I spoke to Robin. He seemed... upset. I saw him coming from your room and I wondered if you knew why."

I grimaced a bit. "Uh, yes I know all about what happened to Robin."

Starfire bolted to her feet. "Then you must inform me. I wish to know what is the matter with my friend."

I sighed "Alright Starfire, I'll tell you. But I'm gonna put on pants first. I find it very difficult to properly explain anything without pants."

She stomped her foot. "NO, you will tell me now, I must know what is the matter with Robin!"

I looked down at the floor where Starfire had stomped her boot, and saw a spiderweb of cracks in the tile emanating from the point of impact. I then looked back at the alien standing before me. Head leaned forward, teeth clenched,arms straight down her sides and her hands curled up at the ends. I smirked knowingly "Your really concerned for Robin aren't you?"

"Of course I am. Robin is my best friend."

"Is that all?"

Her eyes softened slightly, losing that hardness born from concern for her friend. "Huh?"

"Nevermind. You want to know what's wrong with Robin, fine I'll tell you. I told him a little about himself. I let him know about a few things that have been happening that he is blind to. Anerror in his judgement and alapse in observation."

"What error do you speak of?"

"Not informing me about Red X's abilities is the one I mentioned. If he had told me what X can do then I would have been able to catch him."

"If that is all you said then why is Robin the way heis? I have not seen him this upset since he first built the Red X suit. When I spoke to him he did not have the spirit he always possesses. The confidence that he always carries with him was gone."

"My intent was not to hurt Robin in any way Starfire. My intention was to help him fix an error with himself. When all this is said and done Robin will be a better person for it."

I shifted my towel "Now can you please get out here? I'm getting mighty cold."

She looked down and seemed to notice that I was only wearing a towel for the first time. "EEP!" and she darted out of my bathroom like a bat outta hell.

I shrugged and started to dry off.

* * *

Later that day the alarm went off again. It was around eight o'clock. 

We got no reports of who it was. Just a tripped security alarm in some rich guy's penthouse apartment. Robin said that he had several remarkably valuable items there so he had it set up so that if there was a tripped alarm the Titan's were alerted.

I called over my earpiece. "There wouldn't happen to be any Zinotheum in that man's apartment is there Robin?"

"I don't think so, but there may be. He is a major shareholder in a tech company, maybe he keeps it in a safe somewhere in his house?" There was a pause. "Just in case this is X, I'll tell you about his abilities. Just to be safe."

I smirked slightly. "That would be great Robin."

* * *

We arrived less than two minutes later. 

We pulled up to an enormous apartment building in the middle of downtown. I found it amusing that even though this thing was a good sixty stories there probably weren't more than five apartments in the whole thing. Ahh, human excess.

Of course the apartment we wanted was on the top floor. When we got in we found the elevator was out of commission. It must have been locked or require a buzz from upstairs or something.

After using various modes of transport up the stairwell to reach the top, we burst into the scene in the penthouse suite.

Before us was an enormous ballroom complete with crystal chandelier and tall staircase, filled to the brim with various finely dressed people. There were at least forty people all sitting down in chairs and looking positively dumbfounded. They were all blank faced and stared off into nothingness.

The only animate person was a man in the far back of the room, a good hundred feet away and at the top of the stairs. He was holding a sack that he was using to take material goods off of the stupefied guests. On his back was a guitar, and a kickass guitar I must say. The entire thing was a weird fractal ruby color that shimmered in the light and the strings were shiny and well polished. He was wearing a pair of torn off jean shorts and tennis shoes. His shirt was black and had a logo for a band of some sort on it. A red bandana was tied around his head to keep his red tipped blonde hair out of his face. A sparse patch of blonde covered his face in a pathetic attempt at a beard. He couldn't have been any more than eighteen.

Robin called out "You there! Stop! Who areyou! What did you do to these people!"

The blonde kid turned to us and smiled widely in amusement. Without a word he twisted the guitar off of his back and in front of him. He took a mighty windup and struck a chord.

This pluck of the string manifested as a titanically huge wave of sound that flew away from him in a circular tube shape, emanating from the struck point on his guitar. Dust, carpet, and furniture was swept up in the blast, not to mention us. All six Titans were knocked back from the sound blast and into the far back wall of the room.

The sound made no noise, except for the powerful sound of an electric guitar being struck perfectly.

The blonde kid ran to the opposite side of the room and hopped on a table. When he spoke it was with a very powerful and projecting voice."Who am I, you ask? I am the supreme master of all that is awesome! I am the king of all that is good and hardcore in this land! I am HardRock, and I'm gonna rock you so HARD!" And he struck another string.

We were ready this time. Starfire and Raven flew up and I jumped up to avoid the blast. The other three Titans fell away to the sides. The blast of sound passed by harmlessly and tore an enormous hole in the wall. Looking out you could see a beutiful view of the Jump City skyline.

Robin yelled "TITANS, GO!"

Cyborg and Robin ran in while Starfire and Raven flew in. I jumped like a grasshopper. BeastBoy grabbed a nearby person and started hauling her out of the room.

The three fliers were almost on him when a rippling cone of sound flew out at them and forced them back. The three scattered, and hard rock kept blasting and missing. Great swathes of destruction were rent from every place he shot.

Robin and Cyborg dashed up while he was distracted. Cyborg converted his arm to sonic cannon mode and fired.

He would have hit were it not for a chair falling over and tangling up his legs. The large man stumbled and missed his shot, causing a large section of wall to crumble about six feet away from HardRock. The blonde man saw the shot and looked down, seeing Robin. He pointed the guitar's neck at him.

Robin whipped out a fan of birdarangs and hurled them, only to have them knocked back by a crushing wave of sound. HardRock started firing off tiny, rapidblasts of sound by playing a very fast beat on his guitar.

The Boy Wonder was able to dodge about half of them before he slipped up and got nailed in the shoulder. He jerked back and was hit again not a second later, and then again.Robin fell to the ground, clutching the worst of his injuries.

Starfire stopped her midair acrobatic maneuver to shout out "ROBIN!"

It was around this time that HardRock noticed me standing on a chandelier further down the room. He noticed me because I fired off an armor piercing bullet right into the neck of his guitar.

Contrary to what I thought would happen, the guitar only moved a little bit instead of shattering. The blast of sound he had been aiming went wild and tore up a few tables. Robin took his chance and ran to the back of the room, well, limped is the better word for it. He was tailed by Raven and a panic stricked Starfire.

HardRock forgot all about the black haired Titan, and turned his attention to me. He prepped a blast of sonic. I jumped to the next chandelier, landing on the top of the decoration. The hanging I was on a moment ago was obliterated by another blast of sound and was smashed into the ceiling. HardRock started firing rapid blasts again, but each one had alot more power to it, enough to send me sailing into the ceiling.

We continued like this for another five chandeliers. HardRock unable to draw a proper bead on me, and I was unable to jump down because that would slow me down enough to get hit.

Suddenly there was a lull in the shots. I looked down and saw that HardRock had turned his attention to Cyborg. The metal man had dashed up the middle and was currently lunging at the blonde teenager. HardRock rose his arm for another blast, but Cyborg grabbed it and pressed his hand against the back wall. HardRock's guitar fell to the floor with the one hand still around the neck.

Cyborg smirked "Boo yah! I gotcha now!" He pulled back his fist for the finishing blow.

HardRock twisted his grip on the guitar, and swung it like an ax. The base of the instrument nailed Cyborg right on the top of the head. The metal man clutched the large V-shaped dent on his titanium skull with both hands, leaving HardRock's hands free.

"You about to go for a ride motherfucker." He grinned

There was another loud guitar riff and Cyborg went sailing into the back of the ballroom and skidded to a halt just outside of the stairwell we came in through.

I jumpedfrom my perch and whipped out my Glocks. In midair I emptied them at the musician. He protectively rose his guitar to shield himself, and successfully did so. My aim wasn't to hurt him, only force him to move his hands on his guitar.

I shot out my claw and twisted in midair to bring it to bear. HardRock lowered his guitar and gasped. I grinned.

Suddenly a well dressed, quite oldman was standing in between me and my target. My eyes widened and I retracted my claw. My swing came up just short of touching the man's nose.

When I landed I looked up and stared daggers at the man. I was mad because the idiot had ruined my shot. He sidestepped and I found myself looking down the neck of a crimson guitar.

"Shit!"

"Shit's right motherfucker." And he strummed his guitar.

I rode the wave of force along the length of the ballroom, and crashed into the opposite wall a hundred feet away. Bits of plaster and drywall cracked and flew off the wall like an explosion of snowflakes. I landed heavily and started to regenerate the damaged bones from the blast. I looked over and saw that Robin was fully healed from his recent encounter.

Three minutes of fighting and we were all back exactly where we started.

HardRock let out a loud horse laugh, "HA haa, that's right motherfuckers! You can't touch HardRock, I'm too awesome for you bitches!"

I called out "You got a foul mouth punk, about time someone cut it off." I shot out my claw.

Robin growled and hurled yet another birdarang. It closed the long distance as fast as, well, as a robin would. Irony is awesome ain't it?

The projectile missed the teenager by a few inches, and almost struck the elderly, posh looking woman behind him. We all winced at the close miss.

"Ah, ah ,aah, motherfuckers." He shook his finger at us like children. "You don't want to go and hurt these good people. These aren't just the commoners of Jump City, these are the ruling elite. The business people that let this whole city keep going."

My eyes widened with realization "Oh shit..."

Starfire piped up. "Why do you speak of feces Reaver?"

"Because I know where he's going with this."

"If any of these people get hurt, even in the slightest bit, they'll sue your asses so much you won't have two nickels to rub together. And since they're all under the control of my perfect rocking, you ain't gonna have any choice but to hurt'em." He spread his arms wide. "Gather to me, my roadies!"

From the hallways next to the landing that HardRock was standing of emerged several more guests, except these were armed. They held various hunting rifles, shotguns, and even a few automatic rifles. The guy who owned this place must have been a gun aficianado.

We all huddled together, mostly out of fear and partially out of not having any clue what to do. A protective shield of goons surrounded HardRock, blocking off all forms of attack.

Then the man in the back said "EVERYONE ATTACK!" and it turned into a ballroom blitz.

Raven erected a protective shield of black around us just in time as the armed hypnotized people opened fire. Bullets pinged off of the shield with a thunderous noise.

Robin yelled over the din. "Titans, be careful not to hurt them. They're still just civilians, we can't hurt them. For moral and financial reasons, if we so much as scratch one of them they'll cry 'incompetent law enforcement'."

I loaded my Glocks with rubber bullets. "Robin, my forte is hurting people. It's really what I'm best at."

"Just try to be gentle Reaver."

The bullets stopped, and Raven lowered her shield. All six of us darted out as quick as we could.

I ran out and ducked behind an upturned table, BeastBoy was close behind me.

I sat down, and loaded my Glocks. "BeastBoy, I'll jump up and distract them, you turn into something that will work for not hurting people."I didn't give him a chance to respond and I jumped up, my Glocks blasting.

I disarmed three people before they shot at me again. The three had their guns broken, the barrels bent into uselessness. An emerald rhino crashed through the table and knocked over another two hypnotized goons. I dropped the guns and shot out my claw.

When I landed I saw that HardRock was not where he last was. A quick survey of the room led me to see him running down one of the hallways that a gun toting goon had come from. I started to give chase.

My chase was stopped prematurely when I fell down from a chair being busted over my head. I rolled over and saw a provocatively dressed young woman standing the ruins of a chair. Shehad that slack jawed expression, same as the others. She stabbed down with the pointy end of the broken chair. I rolled away and she missed.

I hopped to my feet and looked around, and spied the ultimate weapon to use when your fighting people you don't really want to hurt.

I ran over to a table and dumped the bowl of oranges onto the table cloth. I grabbed the ends and tied them off, forming a sack of oranges. I whipped around and clubbed the woman across the face with it. She stumbled back and fell to the ground, rather unconscious.

The rest of the Titans had pretty much taken care of the rest of the gun toting goons, all that was left were the unarmed hypnotized people.

I spied Robin and spun the sack. "YO, ROBIN!" I called out at the top of my lungs. He turned to me and I launched the sack He caught it and looked at me quizzically. I yelled out "GOOD FOR BEATINGS!" And I ran down the hall after HardRock.

* * *

The hallway emerged into a study of some sort. I saw no sign of HardRock, so I focused on my lifesense.

There was no life in the immediate vicinity, so I focused and expanded my sense, encompassing the entire apartment in my life seeing gaze.

I swept over the battle going on behind me, I sensed the birds on the rooftop, and saw the tiny pin pricks of light that indicated insects. I saw through the walls and decorations and wires and vents and saw a form on the opposite side of the penthouse that was bursting with youthful energy.

"Yeah, that's him." I said to noone in particular.

I started dashing through the rooms. twisting and turning through halls and corridors. God that place was enormous.

I finally exited into an enormous and rediculously posh bedroom. There was an enormous bay window that actually had a grand view of the bay. Though I wasn't interested in the decor, I was worried about the blonde criminal rummaging in a wall compartment over the bed. His guitar was on the bed.

I whipped out my Mossberg and aimed at the back of his head. I cocked it, and he stopped dead. He slowly turned around and was almost biting the barrel of my gun. He grinned "Howdy Motherfucker."

"Freeze punk."

He opened his mouth but I stopped him "No, just shut the hell up. I have not had a good day and I do not want to deal with another smartass villain who tries to talk me to death. Now be a good boy and just get down on the floor so I can put mr. handcuffs on you, and if you so much as say another word I swear to god, allah, and all that is holy and good that I will shoot you in the testicles."

I motioned with my gun for him to get off the bed. He sidled off of the bed and stood up.

"You know, if you would just let me finish I would-"

I shot him in the testicles.

He was still for a moment before his hands flew, that's right flew to his groin. He fell to his knees, and then fell to the ground without making a sound.

A minute passed.

He reached into his pants and pulled out a metal cup, a large dent in the front of it. He resumed holding himself. I heard him whimper slightly. I'm glad I used a bean bag round.

I pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cufffed his hands. He didn't even resist.

"Sorry about that man, hope I didn't cause any permanent damage. You should be fine, it'll just hurt for a good long while." I grabbed his leg and started dragging him back to the ballroom.

I suddenly felt a very sharp pain in my back all the way down my back. I stumbled forward and let go of the man I was dragging.

I whipped out my claw and whirled around, my face a mask of rage.

I expected HardRock to have cut me with a knife or something, instead I saw the black and red clad form of Red X standing over the musical villain. My blood dripped down the red tines of his X shaped blade.

I was flabbergasted. "Red X, what the hell? Why are you here?"

His electronic voice replied back "Helping out my friend here. Mighty unsportsmanlike to shoot a man below the belt." He pointed his hands and fired off a pair of red shurikens.

I lifted up my shield and the shurikens bounced off of the blue energy. The projectiles flew back and X caught them. I was right behind them.

I swung my claw and X ducked under the blades. He whipped his palms up and pointed them at me. An enormous rubbery X flew out at my chest. I matrix dodged backwards, and slammed my hand onto ground and lifting myself back up in the process.

I reached out and grabbed X's hands at the wrist. I pulled him forward and simultaneously slammed a metal laced fist into his mask. He flew back and collapsed on his ally.

He groaned "Uhh, fuck it. I'm outta here." He grabbed his belt.

I lunged to keep him from teleporting. He rolled over and I accidently hit his friend in the gut. He puffed out his air and yelled. I winced for him.

X slammed his hand into the ground and shot out an enormous red cross that spread over the floor, and under my feet.

The ground separated like the red sea, and I fell into it. Luckily I landed in a comfortable bed, unfortunately the bed was occupied by a very scared woman. The rich woman screamed and threw a pillow at me. "AAAAHHH! RAPE! RAPE! MOLESTATION!" I kicked off the cushion. "Maam, calm down. I'm not, gah! Not it off with the damn pillow!"

I flipped over and looked at the giant missing X in the ceiling. I saw the midnight clad thief hop over the hole with a blonde muscian slung over his shoulder. He fiddled with his belt and was gone in with a fluttery sound like insect wings.

I slumped back onto the bed and sighed. The lady hit me in the face with a lamp.


	26. Honky Tonk Women

Back at the Tower, after we had cleaned up HardRock's mess a little bit.

We wasted no time at all. Police reports were checked, databases were scanned, and information was gathered. It was like a beehive. All except for me, I was lost in the quagmire of it all.

I stopped Robin as he rushed past me. "Yo Boy Wonder, what should I do?" I honestly had no idea.

"Whatever you need to do. You should know how to find somebody right?"

"Yeah, when I have at least a name. I need a little more to go on here."

He pulled out of my grasp "Figure it out Reaver, I'm busy." He dashed off.

I shrugged and thought to myself "_Alright, I'll just do this the old fashioned way._" I turned on a heel and walked towards the elevator.

On the way I grabbed BeastBoy by the arm and dragged him with me. "Your coming with me green boy." I pressed the button.

I shouted through the elevator doors "Hey Robin, I'm going out for a bit. I'm taking BeastBoy with me, later!" The doors closed.

The changeling pulled out of my grasp. "Dude, what the hell? Where are we going, and don't be so rough." He rubbed his arm.

"I know some people who can help out withfinding this guy, but we need to make one stop first." My communicator buzzed. Robin's angry face greeted me on the tiny little LCD screen. "Miss me already Robin?"

"Where are you going? You know we were in the middle of an investigation, and why did you take BeastBoy?"

"Relax, I know some people who I'm gonna talk to, I'll find this HardRock asshole in no time. I'm taking BeastBoy with me to help out."

"Who are these people?"

"Just some upstanding citizens who owe me favors. Now if the interrogation is done with can I get going. I would like to get back before midnight."

I waited a moment for Robin to give the slightest of nods. I smiled back and snapped it shut. After a brief stop off at my room we hopped into Robin's Bronco and we were off.

* * *

Two hours and a few phone calls later we pulled out front of an apartment building in the seedier part of town. A gunshot was heard off in the distance as we stepped out of the truck. 

"Hey Reaver, how do you know anybody here. You haven't lived here all that long and all you do is chill in your room, you don't go out or anything."

I locked the doors "The guy moved here from New York a while back, from my old killing days. We parted ways on pretty good standing with one another, so he should be helpful. He's a man who deals in information, and knows how to stay quiet with it, but I know what it takes to buy him off." I grabbed a sack from the back seat.

"What's in there anyways?"

"$10,000 in small bills." BeastBoy gaped at me "I said I know what it takes to buy him off..."

The changeling shook his head. "Okay, first of all. How can you drop that kind of money so easily, second of all why do you have $10,000, in cash, lying around."

"First question: I'm obscenely rich. Second question: It's handy in situations exactly like this. Now come on." I slung the sack over my shoulder and walked up the steps.

I knocked on apartment number twelve and crossed my fingers. I was rewarded with a heavy set man that looked like he was in his mid forties. He wore a pair of sweat pants and a stained T-shirt. His head was an angry sunburn all over because he was bald with thinning hair. A salt and pepper moustache adorned his upper lip. I smiled and gave a slight wave. "Hi Vinny."

The middle aged man gave me a slight smirk before punching me in the eye. I staggered back from the sudden blow and clutched at my optic. "Ahh, good to see you too."

He huffed out "What the fuck, do you think your doing showing up on my doorstop like this? You know I never want to see your face again you sonovabitch. Now get outta here." He turned around and walked back into his apartment.

BeastBoy grabbed at my arm. "I thought you said he was in good standing with you."

"He is, he didn't shoot at me this time." I walked in after Vinny. "Hey, Vinny, your still not mad are you?"

"What the fuck do you think you bastard." He sat down in an overstuffed recliner. "I had to leave New York because of you. You made me look bad after I recommended you, you fucker."

"Oh god not this again Vinny. You were on your last legs in New York, you would have had to leave in less than a month after that anyways. I'm not to blame here."

"Your still the piece of shit who lost me the boss's favor. It's because of you I'm here now." He cracked open a beer from next to his chair.

"You lost Boss Kemmel's favor long before that Vinny, you know that. He was looking for a good excuse to get you out of his hair. Your lucky he didn't kill you."

"Yeah, I am lucky. And your bad luck Reaver. Your a frickin tide of bad luck. And yes, I know your superhero name, I won't reveal your identity to your little butt-buddy."

"Thanks."

"What's up with you being a superhero now anyways? You were the baddest-ass assassin I ever met, and now your running around saving people and working alongside schmucks like this little twig man." He gestured at BeastBoy, who was fuming at being called a schmuck. "Why did you bring him here anyways? Speaking of which, what the fuck are you doing here at all?"

I hefted up the sack and flopped it onto his lap. "I need some information."

"Oh no, oh hell no. I'm dealing with you any more Reaver. Your like fire, and I don't wanna get burned again. Every time I do anything involving you, things alwaysgo wrong.You can take your money and go die for all I care." He took a long sip from his beer.

I sighed, and turned to my green companion. "Sorry it had to come to this BeastBoy." Vinny stopped drinking and gave the Changeling a queer look. He muttered "BeastBoy..."

I yelled out "Oh Stephanie! Guess who I brought!"

Vinny's eyes widened "Oh shit, no Reaver NO! Don't do that, DON'T DO THAT!" He grabbed at BeastBoy and tried to push him out the door, to which he replied "Dude, what's going on? What did you-"

He was cut off by an obscenely loud gasp. All three of us in unison looked over to the entrance of the hallway that led to the bedrooms. There stood a petitely cute thirteen year old girl. She was a dirty blonde haired girl who was currently standing stark still in shock, holding onto a stuffed doll of BeastBoy. Her pajamas were BeastBoy themed as well, green with the Changeling's smiling, green face on the front.

She froze when she saw the Titan in her home. The minute of silence that followed was deafening. I covered my ears and braced myself.

Stephanie exploded into action, and noise. Oh god the noise.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD! IT'S BEASTBOY! AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

She literally lunged at the Changeling and grabbed onto him like he was a life preserver. The poor green boy was too stunned by her painfully loud shriek so all he could do was get knocked to the ground. The fangirl started sputtering out incoherent praises, requests, and I'm guessing just a little random babbling. All BeastBoy could do was lay on the ground and alternate between looking at the girl like she was some sort of poisonous snake and looking at me with so much helplessness it wounded me.

I decided my point was made so I just bent over and pried the girl off of my companion. It took a surprising amount of effort. I set the girl down on her father's chair and held her there, much to her distress.

"Hello Stephanie. It would seem that you have already met my friend." She was staring intentedly at BeastBoy, who was still just lying on the ground desperately trying to find his breath. Vinny was just stunned.

The girl calmed down a bit. "I can't believe BeastBoy is here, in my house. I mean, it's just so..." She then let out such a high pitched squeel that I feared that my eardrums would pop.

I stood up and rubbed my poor, poor ears. "BeastBoy why don't you come over and say hi." The changeling got up and tentatively walked over to the little girl. It was like he was going to go pet an angy tiger he was so scared. He extended a hand. "Hi, I'm BeastBoy. Pleased to meet you." He plastered on a smile for her.

For a moment it seemed like she would squeel again, but then she took a deep breath, and calmed herself down some. "I'm Stephanie. It is an honor to make your acquaintance." They tentatively shook hands.

I put the icing on the cake. "Hey BeastBoy, why don't you change into something for the young lady. Something cute and cuddly."

Stephanie turned around to look right at me. "Really?" When she had her back turned BeastBoy waved his hands, shook his head and kept mouthing 'no' over and over again. She turned to the green boy. "Will you really change into something for me?" She had an intensely pleading look in her eyes.

BeastBoy nervously scratched his head and looked off into the distance. "I don't know... it is late, and morphing is kind of hard. I gotta do stuff with, molecular structures... and bonds... and... stuff." he glanced down at her and saw that she was on the verge of tears she was pleading so hard. He looked at me andI gave BeastBoy a slight nod.

He swiftly morphed into a cat, a cat with ridiculously huge eyes and a grossly disproportionate body. It mewed cutely and licked it's paw.

Faster than I thought most little girls were capable of moving, Stephanie had scooped up BeastBoy and was cradling him like a baby, cooing softly. She carried the morphed Titan back down the hallway to her room.

I turned to my former partner in crime. "Now then, Vinny. Either you can tell me what I want to know, I'll give you your money so you can put it in that trust fund you have going for Stephanie, and give your daughter twenty minutes to accost my friend. Or you stick to an old grudge and not interact with me, I'll take my money somewhere else, and I'll go get my friend right now, and tell her it's all your fault her playmate is leaving so quick." I gave him a wide smile.

Vinny just scowled.

* * *

Half an hour later we were walking out of the apartment complex with me rather satisfied and BeastBoy really pissed. 

We climbed into the car and BeastBoy did not even glance at me. I almost laughed.

"So... how was it?"

He gratedly turned his head to me and gave me a look of utter contempt.

I wryly smiled "I'm gonna guess bad."

BeastBoy finally said something "Bad? You think it was bad? That was the WORST THIRTY MINUTES OF MY LIFE! I'd prefer Slade's glowy, hurty trick to that torture! At least that was dignified!"

"Your exaggerating. It couldn't have been that bad BeastBoy."

"Yes it was, I don't wanna talk about the kind of stuff that happened in there."

"At least I was able to get what I wanted from Vinnie. He told me everything I wanted and them some. If you weren't there my plan couldn't have worked. We got the address of where this guy's girlfriend works, so we're going to pay her a visit."

"You could have at least warned me. You knew she was some sort of creepy fan girl and you didn't even let me prepare myself for it."

"To be honest, it's funnier this way."

"Funny? You think this is funny? I was molested by a thirteen year old girl for half an hour and you think it's FUNNY!"

"Hey if it happened to me, you'd be laughing."

"Dude, no I wou-... yeah I guess that's true."

"Tell you what, I'll make it up to you."

"Yeah, how?"

"You'll find out when we visit HardRock's girlfriend."

"Yeah right, I don't think anything will make me forgive you that quickly"

* * *

"Reaver, I love you" 

That was the only thing that BeastBoy could say as we pulled into Club Isabella, a ritzy strip club on the north side of Jump City. BeastBoy had his face pressed up against the window like a kid marveling over candy in a window. His eyes followed the bucking electronic horse mounted over the entrance to the club. I pulled in and parked myself.

"Let me do all the talking BeastBoy, you just stick around for the ride."

I walked up to the entrance and stood behind a nice looking man in a suit who was obviously trying to bargain with the very large bouncer.

"C'mon man, I've been in here before. Why you turning me down now?"

"Isabella didn't like how you treated the girls. End of story."

"That was an accident, seriously! I don't even want to deal with any of the ladies. I just need to talk to one of them."

"No means no Robert. Go home."

The yong man kicked at the ground and stormed away. Me and BeastBoy walked up.

"Hey, what's going on." He just gave me a stony stare. "Name's Reaver, Teen Titans. We're here to question one of the girls that works here. Her name's Pamela Pierpoint, if she's working tonight we'll need to speak to her."

The bouncer glared at me, like he was pondering something. "Is Pam... in any sort of trouble?"

"No, we just need to ask her a few questions about her boyfriend, James Walker? Do you know him at all."

"Yeah... I know 'im. But I'm not gonna be the one who talks about it. Yeah, Pam's working tonight, follow me."

We stepped out of the dark night, and into a technicolor nightmare of flashing strobes and thumping music.

I cringed at the sudden contrast between environments. Club Isabella was a nice place, as for strip clubs go. It was two tiered and separated into two layers. The upper seemed to be more of a bar and lounge, while the lower was a blaringly loud dance floor that had the runway going through it. You couldn't turn your head five degrees without inadvertently looking at another different naked woman, more than likely one who was lit up with a beam of harshly colored light. It was awful for someone like me, who hated bright lights and loud noise.

On the other hand it was awesome for somebody like BeastBoy. From the entryway he just stood there, taking in the sights, sounds and, curiously enough, smells of Club Isabella. He was blank faced, almost in awe of all the nude things before him.

I rolled my eyes and called out to the changeling. He vaguely turned to me and I motioned for him to follow me.He looked back and forth between me and the club, like he was making a decision. I sighed.

I dug into my pocket, and extracted a few bills. I tossed them to BeastBoy, who caught them and looked at them in confusion. I shouted "Have fun!" and turned to follow the bouncer. He gave me an odd look.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." And then he led me into the bowels of Club Isabella.

* * *

Back behind the stage of Club Isabella, I waited in the makeup room for the strippers with the bouncer. It took fifteen minutes for Pamela to become available. I had started to worry about my green counterpart. 

When Pamela finally did show up, she did so not totally dressed.She was only wearing a bikini and it was only late January. I found that amusing. She was a very tall redhead that seemed sort of angry, not at anyone in particular, just angry.

She crossed her arms "So, your that Reaper guy right? Whaddaya want?" She had a Brooklyn accent.

"Actually it's Reaver. I need to talk to you about your boyfriend James Walker."

"Ex-boyfriend, actually."

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"Yeah, we broke up only a few days ago. He came in here and started talking to me about how he's gonna make it big or something like that. He just kept going on and on about how this was his big break, and that he was finally going to make it big. That was enough for me, I told him I was sick of all this bullshit he's always puttin himself in. Then he left, and I haven't seen him since."

"Lemme guess, James is a musician?"

"And a thief. I don't which he was talking about making it big in, music or crime, and I don't care."

"Did he have a big red guitar, sort of shimmery?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason. Did he have any friends, partners in crime perhaps, someone he could turn to?"

"Yeah, Bobby Alberts. Them two have been friends since before either of them can remember."

"That's perfect. Lastly, can you give me his address."

"Sure... Hey listen, I gots a favor to ask."

I shrugged, "Sure, go ahead."

"What's Jimmy done?"

I paused, and sighed. "I'm only telling you this because you would probably see it on the news anyway. That robbery in the highrise downtown, that was him."

She sat down "Holy shit, I saw that on the news. He did all that damage to the place. By himself?"

"Yeah."

"Goddammit Jimmy, what kind of shit have you gotten mixed up in?" She slumped her head down between her knees. "How the hell did he do that?"

"Now that's classified, sorry. Now I need that address."

"Morgan Apartments, #20 on the south end. He should be there now."

"Thank you Ms. Pierpoint, contact the police if you have any more information regarding the case."

"Wait..." She weakly called out.

"Yes Pamela?"

"If you find my Jimmy, go easy on him. Jimmy's got a good heart, it's just that life hasn't zactly been nice to him. Don't blame him for the things he done."

I just stared at her for a second before responding "Alright Ms. Pierpoint, you have my word."

I turned and walked out.

* * *

I found BeastBoy shmoozing it up at a table filled with busty strippers. I grabbed him and had to literally drag him out of the club. 

As I dragged him across the icy parking lot he protested "Dude! What gives, I so totally had them eating out of the palm of my hand! And why are your dragging me like this!"

"BeastBoy, they were strippers, they're PAID to give you that kind of attention. And secondly, I'm dragging because it's the only way I would be able to get you out of there."

He pulled out of my grasp. "Well I'm out now, I'm good, really."

"Alright fine. I got the information we needed, and then some. Let's get going."

"We headed back to the tower?"

"No BeastBoy, we're visiting a Mr. Bob Alberts." and we pulled out.


	27. No Surprises

At that exact moment, in a small apartment on the south side of town.

Robert Alberts sat in his little home, his head pressed into his hand and his other hand holding a cell phone to ear.

Bobby is a slight wisp of a boy, very thin but remarkably strong for his size. His looks and body type gave him the resemblance of a fifteen year old, even though he was really twenty-six. He had a farmer's tan from occasionally getting an honest job and working hard, but it had been a while since then and it was fading fast. His hair was a dirty brown, and so were his eyes. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a white shirt that was stained in several places.

Normally Bob was an upbeat and positive kind of guy, but at the moment lines of worry creased his face in several places. He wiped his face and spoke into the phone. "So you haven't heard from Jimmy at all Sal?"

A gruff, hard voice came from the other end of the phone. "No Rob, I haven't. Sorry kid. He came in here a few hours ago and bought a whole mess of sandwiches from the deli here. After that he ran out, and I haven't heard from him since. Paid with cash, large bills at that."

"Alright Sal, thanks alot. If you hear anything from him, you call me. Don't let him know I'm looking for him, alright. Just call me and tell me where he is."

"Alright Bobby Boy, calm down. What's going on anyways, normally you can't pry the two of you apart with a crowbar, and now he's gone missin? What gives?"

Robert sighed and said "I'll tell you as soon I figure it out. Later Sal." And he hit the end button. He placed the device on the seat cushion next to him and held his head in his hands.

"What the fuck is going on James, what the fuck is going on?" He whispered to himself.

The phone next to him buzzed. He lethargically pawed for it and flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Bob?"

Robert immediately recognized the voice on the other side. "Jim! Where the hell are you? What are you doing?"

"Dude, Bob, calm down. I'm fine, don't worry about me. That Reaver guy did a number on me but I'm fine now."

"What? What did he do to you Jim?"

"Shot me in the balls, but I'm alright, better in fact."

"Shot you in the nuts! Fuck, Jim! How the hell are you okay after that?"

"This guitar man, it's fuckinawesome. It just keeps giving me these powers, I don't think it's ever going to stop. You should see me, I look sweet." Jim's voice was quiet, almost in reverence to the instrument of which he spoke.

"What? Jim, you really shouldn't be fucking around with that thing! Who the hell knows where it came from, or what it's doing to you."

"Rob, I know exactly what it's doing to me. It's making me into a superhero man, and it feels great."

"Look, Jim, why did you call me anyways?"

"I heard you were looking for me, decided to find out why?"

"It's cause I'm scared for you man. Ever since you found that goddamn guitar you've been... changing. Wait... how did you find out I'm looking for you? I only called Pam, Sal, and Rick."

"Sal told me."

"But I only talked to Sal a few minutes ago."

"I know, isn't it _awesome!_"

For about a minute, Robert couldn't figure out how to respond to that."Dude, listen, come over here now. Lemme talk to you."

"You don't gotta worry about me now, not any more."

"I'll be the judge of that, lemme just talk to you in person, to see if you're really okay. If everything checks out, you can do whatever you want with that damn thing."

There was a brief minute of silence. "Alright man, I'll be there in twenty. Keep the beer cold." And he hung up.

Robert flipped his phone shut, and sighed once more. "Alright then Jim, that's five minutes more than I need." And he turned to enter his room.

* * *

We arrived ten minutes later. 

I pulled up the old car in front of a rundown apartment building. The sidewalk leading up to the front of the building was so badly cracked that I could tell it was like that in the pale moon light. The brick was heavily faded and chipped and the wrought iron around the snow filled flower bed was totally rusted and decaying away. The place reminded me of my old apartment complex except not as nice.

I took the mildewy stairs up to the third floor and knocked on apartment number 20. A minute later I got a response.

A short, very young looking man answered the door clad in only a pair of black pajaman pants. Except for his head and a thin beard he was completely hairless. A few awkward red pimples were on his chest and shoulders, as well as a few on his face. His overall appearance was that of a sophomore in high school.

He gave me a quick look over and widened his eyes in surprise. "Um... hello? Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm of the Teen Titans, I'm sure you've heard of us."

He opened the door fully and stood tall and prepared. "Yeah, it's kind of hard not to."

"Your Robert Alberts correct?"

"Yeah, I am..." He said far too nervously

"Great man, I just need to talk to you for a few minutes. Can I come in?"

He nervously opened the door "Sure..."

I walked in. The apartment was as run down as the rest of the building. Empty cans of soda and beer were laid about everywhere next to half eaten chip bags and moldy substances from other things. It was like a third world bachelor pad.

"Nice place." I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Don't lie, it's a crap heap." He haphazardly threw debris off of the couch and then sat down on a pristinely clean recliner. "So what is this about?"

I sat down. "I need to ask you a few questions about your friend, Jimmy. I know for a fact that he's involved in some 'freaky shit' as I like to put it. He's found some suped up guitar and has named himself HardRock. He was the one responsible for all that shit over at that high rise downtown. He stole alot of money and I know for a fact that you know where he is."

"Oh yeah, and how is that?"

I picked up a nearby full can of soda. I flipped it in my grasp and hurled it at the wooden handle of his recliner. It struck dead on, forcing the back of the chair down, and into the reclining position.

So positioned I could easily see the skull and cross bones on the bottom of his foot. The skull had a red cross on it's forehead.

"Because you, my good little thug, are the one and only Red X."

Robert sprang to his feet and dashed towards the door. I was already past him by the time he made it halfway. I landed and stood confidently at the door, staring at him.

He reversed gears and ran for the hallway that lead to the bedrooms, and halted when he saw an emerald velociraptor standing in the doorway, blocking him off.

He stopped and looked back and forth between us, slowly inching his way towards the center of the room.

BeastBoy morphed back into his green elf form. "Reaver, you were right. There's the rest of the X suit in his bedroom, except for the pants."

"Great job BeastBoy."

Robert turned to me. "How the hell did you know."

"Supposition at first. I was cautious and had BeastBoy sneak into your house to make sure. I didn't need it though. I could tell from your walk, the way you carry yourself. It's with the same confident yet prepared gait that Red X had. If you had calmed yourself, I probably couldn't have been able to tell. Well, that and the fact that your James' best friend and fellow criminal." I smiled and leaned against the door.

BeastBoy crossed his arms and spoke: "So we can do this one of two ways. Either you can tell us everything you know, or we can beat the crap out of you and you tell us everything you know."

When a plan comes together, it's a wonderful thing.

But it's a remarkably shitty thing when a rock star themed villain crashes through a wall and shoots a sonic blast right in your face. Fuck you Murphy.

That's exactly what happened, at that exact moment. There was a thunderous explosion and sound projected debris sailed every which way, tearing the kitchen of the place to pieces. We all were thrown to our asses, and a pile of debris landed on my gut andpinned me to the ground, and unfortunately broke my arm. I lost sight of BeastBoy behind a cloud of dust.

In sailed HardRock riding his guitar. I kid you not, he was riding his guitar like a surfboard. The boy looked very different from the incarnation I saw only a few hours ago. His hair was no longer blonde at all, instead it was bright red and went everywhere, like it was starched or something. A cigarette hung from his lips and he wore tight leather pants with a matching vest and boots. Lastly, a pair of enormous sunglasses hid his eyes. Apparently he recovered very well from the shot to the junk.

I could barely see from the mass of stuff on my chest. I scanned around for BeastBoy and couldn't find him. I tried moving my arm and winced when I got a sharp pain for my actions. My other arm was twisted so I couldn't bring it to bear against the debris. I immediately started healing my arm and turned back to the man riding theredguitar.

He hopped off of the guitar and slung the instrument over his shoulder. He took a long drag from his smoke and then stomped it out with his boot.

Robert stood up and ran to his friend. "Jim! Thank god your here! The Titans showed up and had me cornered. I-"

HardRock mercilessly slapped the boy across the face with the front of his guitar. The blow had alot of force to it and sent Robert sailing across the apartment and slammed him into the wall of the kitchen.

HardRock looked at his former companion and shook his head. "Bobby, you motherfuckin spineless-ass traitor. You sell me out to the goddamn Titans, invite me into a fuckin trap, and now you don't even have the stones to tell the truth when the time comes? Man, I thought I knew you."

Bob stumbled to his feet. "What the hell, no Jim, it's not like that. I had no clue these bastards were going to show up!"

"Bullshit, I'm just lucky I checked through your window before I came in. I trusted you, ya sonovabitch, I should kill you and these other two fuckjobs right now."

Rob wiped off his shirt. "Are you listening to yourself? Talking about killing the Titans, talking about killing me! What the fuck! You've changed so much man!"

"You don't know what your fucking talking about."

"Look at yourself you asshole! This all began... it's that goddamn guitar isn't it? It's doing something to you, changing the way you think."

"SHUTUP!" This shout was accentuated with a sudden blast of sound that crushed him back up against the wall, and knocked him unconscious at least.

"Now that that's settled, time to move on to you motherfuckers." He turned just in time to witness a small chipmunk morph into a gorilla right in front of him.

I smiled. The changeling had transformed into a small animal to avoid getting hurt, and it had worked.

The jade gorilla callously slapped Jim across the chest and knocked him on the ground and making him drop his guitar. BeastBoy grabbed it and tossed it in my direction before planting a foot on HardRock's chest and holding him to the ground.

I struggled out of my mess and grabbed the instrument. The gorilla reared back for the finishing blow.

I felt a very sudden and very powerful tugging on my hand, and suddenly the guitar in my hand was being yanked out and headed right for HardRock's outstretched hand. He caught it and used it's momentum to swing it at BeastBoy.

Now this next part I can't remember for the life of me in realtime. Everything slowed down, and I can remember every single part of it with clarity. The water flowing out of a burst kitchen pipe and spraying down the side of a building.The way the dust cloud was settling. How the splintery bone felt in my arm from my quicky regeneration. A drop of ruby fall from Robert's lower lip and splash onto the ground. Oh god, I could _hear_ the splash it made.

What stands out the most was the flash of red from the guitar, and it being replaced with a brilliant arc of crimson from BeastBoy's arm as it fell towards HardRock. I can still see how the guitar cleaved through the gorilla's arm and exited on the other side. But what stands out the most was the utter look of horror and shock on BeastBoy's face as he reverted to his elf form and just gaped at his partially severed arm. He carried that look all the way to the ground and crashed in a pool of his gorilla form's blood.

I stared at him as he fell, and before I knew it I was on HardRock, booting him in the face as hard as I could. Normally the force of the blow would be far more than enough to shatter his skull into paste, but for some reason it only knocked him back and out of the hole he made, not even knocking him unconscious.

He did a mid air flip and landed on his guitar, holding his ribs and wincing. BeastBoy must have broken them when he stepped on him.

HardRock glared at me with complete and utter hatred in his eyes. The sunglasses had been shattered by my boot, and now I could see how mutated his eyes were. The orbs had grown, each took up half again as much space on his face. There was no iris anymore, or pupil for that matter. All that was there was glowing red light, like that red eye effect you get with old pictures. He snarled at me and turned away on his flying guitar.

I let him go, and instead turned my attention to my fallen comrade. I winced when I got a good look at him.

Blood was pumping from his arm in rhythm. HardRock's slash had almost completely severed his arm. The only thing holding it on was a thin scrapof muscle halfway up his forearm.I wondered how the hell he cut with a blunt guitar, and then promptly shook the thought from my head. I grabbed at the arm and squeezed it to staunch the blood flow. I found it difficult to do so without crushing his arm bone.

With one hand holding his arm I fumbled for my communicator. It slipped out of my grasp from the slippery blood on my hands and clattered to the floor, out of my grasp. I swore loudly and pawed for it, unsuccessfully.

A black foot planted itself on the yellow device. I stopped dead, and slowly looked up.

An electronic drone spoke down to me from behind a skull mask. "Don't bother, the Titans and and ambulance have already departed. And so have we."


	28. All Apologies

Titan's tower, just a minute ago.

Robin sat at a computer terminal in the top floor of Titan's tower. He typed away endlessly on the keyboard, pulling up police reports, criminal records, maps, and bios on people at that party. He was so enthralled in his work that he barely registered his communicator buzzing next to him.

"What the, oh, yeah." He grabbed the yellow device and flipped it open with a star trek sound effect. "Yeah?"

An electronic device warbled over the speaker. "Hey kid."

Robin's eyes widened under his eyemask. "Red X! How did you get this frequency! What do you want?"

"Whoa, slow down there chuckles. I'm just calling to tell you to get your ass down to the morgan apartments, your friend's been hurt."

"What? Who?"

"The green one, you better hurry, he's a bleeder." And the device clicked off.

Robin seethed, he gripped the device and angrily threw it at the ground.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean?" I kept staring at the leering skull face, holding BeastBoy's arm. 

"I mean that me and you are going after Jim, thats what." He crossed his arms impatiently. "Now let's go, he's getting away."

"Follow him yourself, I'm staying here with BeastBoy." I applied more pressure on his arm.

"I can't take him myself, as much as I hate to admit it, I need you."

"And he needs me, now get the fuck away from me."

"Listen, this is more important, we need-"

"NO! I'm not letting BeastBoy get any worse than he already is!"

"Calm down, be rational, Jim is a bigger threat right now. We have no idea what he is capable of with that damn guitar. The two of us should be able to bring him down. Now he's getting away dammit." A threatening edge came to his electronic voice.

"Go without me Robert, I'm not letting BeastBoy get hurt anymore because of me." I turned away from the black clad man, and a moment later there was a sound like the flutter of locust wings and he was gone.

I sighed and resumed maintaining BeastBoy, waiting for aid.

I didn't have long to wait because the rest of the Titans burst into the scene about three minutes later, with Robin in the lead.

He came onto the scene via grappling hook from the ground. He swung up and planted his metal boots onto the ruined ground. The Boy Wonder took in the scene almost instantly, and his face twisted into a look of focused concern.

The next few minutes passed as a blur to my tired eyes. Robin pushing me out of the way and standing over BeastBoy with a roll of gauze from his belt. Starfire's gasp of surprise when she saw what had happened to her friend. Cyborg's look of grim determination as he tended to BeastBoy's broken body. Raven's blank concentration as she channeled healing energy into BeastBoy. It all sort of muddled together into one big Titan soup in my mind.

I just sat there across the room, in a state of limbo, barely registering what was going on around me. I was numb, tired, and still a little wounded. I was left like that for a good fifteen minutes before they decided it was safe to move BeastBoy. I vaguely recall getting in the T-car, with BeastBoy in the Bronco, and driving back to the Tower. I think at some point I passed out.

When I woke up I was in a familiar room in the Tower, the infirmary. BeastBoy was lying on the bed, several tubes coming out of him and even more wires leading to machines. The only noise was the rhythmic hiss of the breathing machine as it pumped air into his lungs.

I shook some of the cobwebs out my head and walked up to the bed and looked down at the little man. I noticed for the first time that his arm was completely covered up in thick layers of gauze and tubes. I briefly considered reaching out to touch it, but didn't.

I heard the door open up and in walked Starfire. She was wringing her hands in front of her nervously. She stopped when she saw me standing there. I said "It's fine Starfire, come on in." The orange girl walked in slowly, as she got closer I saw that her face was streaked with lines from salty tears, or maybe there was silicon in a Tamaranian's tears, I don't know. At that time I was still freaking out a little bitover the fact that she was a space alien. Either way seeing proof that she had been crying was enough to tug at even my stony heartstrings.

"Has there been any change at all in our friend's condition?" She whimpered.

"You tell me, I just woke up."

"Oh..." She just turned and longingly gazed down at the sleeping changeling.

"So... what's the verdict?"

She just cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What's wrong with him? How badly is he hurt?"

"Oh, Cyborg tells me that his arm is very badly hurt, but beyond that he is mostly fine. He also says that... his arm... may ... never recover." At that she turned away and began to shudder lightly.

If seeing evidence of her tears tugged at my heartstrings, then actually seeing her cry cut them. I stared down at BeastBoy and felt very, very guilty. Guilty for letting him get hurt, guilty for yelling at Robin and then turning around and fucking up like this, guilty for both Red X and HardRock getting away, and guilty for making Starfire and the others upset like this. Oddly enough I didn't know which one I felt guiltiest about.

I ran out of the room and down the hall. I tore up the stairwell and onto the floor with my room on it, but I didn't go there. Instead I turned down the opposite hallway and opened up Raven's room. I looked around the very macabre main room before I dashed over to one of the book cases and began scanning titles. When I didn't see any of the books I was looking for I moved on to another shelf.

After a few minutes of looking through books I had a few tucked under my arm. All I needed was one more and I would be ready.

"Do you mind telling me exactly what your doing?" came a deep, feminine voice. I didn't even have to look to know that it was Raven.

"I need to borrow a few books Raven, I have a spell in mind."

"If there was anything in those books that could help BeastBoy don't you think that I would have already done it."

"Yes, but that was with your type of magic. Mine is very, very different."

"Really, what can you possibly do that I wouldn't be able to?"

"An essence transfer, simple as that. I'll transfer my magical essence and regenerate BeastBoy's arm, that should take care of it."

Raven shook her head. "Reaver, you couldn't possibly do an essence transfer. It takes years of study to be able to perform an essence transfer without anyone dying. Either you'll kill yourself draining out your essence or kill BeastBoy draining yours back or kill the both of you doing it."

"I'll be able to pull it off Raven, I just need to draw a casting circle, work a little bit on my ancient Germanic, and then cast the spell."

"Why dare take such a risk?"

I leaned heavily on the bookcase and sagged my shoulders, "Because it's worth it Raven. If anything goes wrong I'll shunt the negative effects onto me. I can take having a little bit of my essence removed. Now I need some diamond dust if you have it."

"Reaver, now is not the time for this. You need to control your emotions, your panicky and you feel guilty about BeastBoy. Such a state is not proper for the casting of such a high end spell, you'll only hurt yourself."

"What are you talking about? I'm in perfect control of my feelings, I'm fine for spellcasting."

"Reaver, I'm an empath, you can't hide anything from me."

"I'm fine, now where the hell is your copy of The Guildbook of the Illuminati, I need it." I started grabbing books and pulling them out of the shelf. One of the random tomes fell down and crushed my foot. My eyes widened in shock and I clutched my foot in pain. "AHHH, FUCKING GODDAMMIT!" In grabbing my foot I dropped the books I had collected so far. "RRRAAUUGGGH SONOVABITCH!" And I angrily kicked a nearby chair, shattering it against the opposite wall. I stood there for a few moments, staring at the wrecked piece of furniture.

I felt petite hands on my shoulders pushing me down to the ground. I let them. "But it would seem you can hide things from yourself." She calmly droned, not even startled at my outburst.

I sat crosslegged on the warm blue carpet, Raven standing over me. "Shit, I'm sorry Raven. I'll get you a new chair, don't worry about that."

"I'm not worrying, and neither should you. You don't have to try and fix everything Reaver, doing that will only get you killed very, very quickly."

"It's all my fault that BeastBoy got hurt Raven, I should have been more alert, sensed HardRock coming and been ready. It's only right of me to try and help him. If he loses his arm, I think I'll have to kill somebody."

"The only place he could get better medical care is the Justice League's Watchtower. He's going to be just fine, you need not concern yourself. You should be focusing on finding HardRock and Red X, not getting upset for no reason."

"Red X, I forgot about him. Raven, I know who Red X is!"

And for the next hour or so I told Raven all about the events that had occurred so far that night. Since retelling the previous events would be redundant, I won't rewrite everything here. Just go reread the last two chapters instead.

Raven finally spoke again after I finished my retelling. "So, Red X is just some selfish street urchin managed to break into the tower and get away with the suit, and HardRock is his fellow miscreant."

"That about sums it up."

"Interesting, do you know where any of these people are right now?"

"Sorry, but no."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem. With everyone here searching for them they should be found easily enough."

"Don't be too sure. These two grew up on the streets, they probably know how to hide if they need to."

"So what do you recommend we do?"

I thought for a moment. "Okay first of all, we sleep. I'm dead tired and I'm sure you are too."

"What do you recommend after that?"

"I'll tell you when I figure it out. Gnight." And I walked out of the goth girl's bedroom.

I went back to my room and went to sweet, sweet sleep.


	29. We're Going to be Friends

Six hours later I rolledout of bed, feeling very groggy. It was that kind of muddled lack of awareness and muscle control that can only be alleviated by a cold shower or coffee. And since I didn't feel like having my anatomy turtle it's way inside me, I went with the coffee route.

I shambled out into the main lounge of the tower clad only in a pair of boxers and a small tanktop. The thing must have shrunk in the wash.

I vaguely noticed a small figure sitting on the couch watching TV. I lethargically waved and groaned a greeting, and got a quick 'yo' in response. I then began the rocket science that is making coffee in that condition.

It took a full minute before I noticed anything wrong. I suddenly stopped my caffeinated machinations and looked back over to the couch. I whirled around and plunged my hand into the breadbox, grabbing the revolver hidden behind one of the loaves. I cocked it and pointed it at the black and red form of Red X.

He looked up from his television program casually "Took you long enough."

I shook my head to try and wake myself up. "Don't move fucker, it's way too early to fight evil. So if you even twitch wrong, I swear to god, I will shoot you in the face."

"With what? I neutered all of your little weapon caches. You might as well throw that thing at me."

I flipped open the cylinder and, sure enough, saw that I could see through the places where bullets should be."

X idly tossed a few shells into the air. "Now then, if you can please jus-SHIT!" He shouted as he dodged a hurled revolver. "Dammit listen to me! OW!" He shouted once again when he was wailed in the face by an empty bullet cylinder.

I followed my hurled missile and swung with a lunging punch. X raised to block but I smashed through the maneuver and hurled him into a table.

A flurry of red projectiles soared out of the wrechage. I twisted and dodged like a madman to avoid the shots, and miraculously did so.

My dodging had ruined my balance and I stumbled for a brief moment before regaining my footing. By the time I did so Red X was gone from the wreckage of the table. I looked around and saw him hanging by the ceiling from a X-shaped knife.

"Reaver, stop!" he raised a palm to stop me from jumping up at him.

Normally this would be seen as a sign of supplication, but Robert had forgotten that his suit fires crimson doom from the palms, so I saw that as a possible attack maneuver. I did an exaggerated leap backwards and grabbed the remote from the couch in the process. Upon landing I hurled it across the room, shattering on the wall just to his left. He glanced after the device...

And gave me my opening. I kicked off the ground and slammed my full weight into him, knocking him off the wall and tumbling us to the ground. I twisted my body around in midair and landed my full weight on him, pinning him to the ground. He groaned loudly from the heavy impact.

"Alright you gothic ballerina, start talking!"

"I fucking would if you would just give me a chance!. I'm not here to fight you douchebag! I need to talk to you and the rest of your little butt buddies!"

I ground my fist into his back. "Then talk."

"Ahhh, get off of me first."

"Ain't gonna happen, I'm still mad about you spraying me with that sticky shit. That stuff tastes awful."

"I'll make you taste your own anus if you don't get off of me right now!"

I rocked back to my feet, dragging him with me. I shot out my claw and pressed the blade into the small of his back. "OK, I'm off of you now. Talk, or you start losing organs."

"Fine, fine, fucking psycho. I followed Jim last night, I tried talking to him but he's, crazy. You heard him in that apartment, he's gone batshit loco. I can't reason with him, he won't talk to me, the things he talks about, it's insane."

I sighed, able to easily detect worry in his voice. I pushed him towards the couch and spun him so he landed on his behind. I pointed at him with a bladed finger. "Shutup for the moment. Wait a minute." I turned and walked into the kitchenette, pouring two mugs of coffee.

"Hey, you take your coffee black or what?"

"Huh? Um, sure."

I sat down with the hot drinks and slid one in front of him. He looked at it confused for a moment.

"Okay, first, take off that mask. Second, drink your coffee. Third, start talking again a little more calmly." I took a sip from my coffee, my claw still out. I immediately felt a little perked up.

Rob pulled off his mask,letting out a disheveled mass of brown hair.He nervously sipped his coffee. "Alright, it went down like this. I followed Jim across the city...

* * *

_Red X teleported across the street, and onto the roof of a separate apartment complex. He glanced around quickly and caught sight of his quarry._

_HardRock sailed down the streets at breakneck speed, using his guitar as a hover board. X broke into a run and leapt to an adjoining buildingtop, and then teleported several more buildings down. He didn't even touch the ground again before he was teleporting once more after his friend._

_After two more jumps Red X landed on a roof top in front ofHardRock. The diabolical rocker jerked to a halt._

_He called out to his friend "JIM!"_

_HardRock smirked through his cigarette. "Well, well, well, the back stabbing whorebag returns! Don't expect me to go easy on you this time."_

_"Dude, Jim, I didn't sell you out to the Titans. They showed up on my door looking for you, I tried totell them just to go fuck off but they figured out I'm Red X and it just-"_

_"SAVE IT!" HardRock burst forward and landed on the snow blanketed rooftop, only thirty feet away from his former friend. "You don't think I see what your doing here motherfucker? You think I don't see it? Your jealous."_

_"What the hell? Are you stoned? You know that I wouldn't think that."_

_"Ever since you stole that suit, it's been nothing but you doing everything, stealing everything, always leaving me in the dust."_

_"Holy shit, you are stoned."_

_"There you go again asshat! Everytime I have a problem you just say something retarded like that! You always talked about making it big together, sharing things like brothers, but I saw where things were going. I saw you taking everything for yourself, and not letting me have any of it! And you wanna know the worst part, it's that there's not a goddamn thing I could do about it! You had all the power, I was just grabbing your pantlegs and getting dragged along. I was becoming a burden to you Rob, and you know that eventually you would have cut me loose. And when I finally do get something that can close the gap, you tell me to throw it away!"_

_X stamped his foot in the slush. "Are you fucking listening to yourself? You sound like some crazy, power hungry bitch!"_

_"What if I do? Who's gonna stop me? You? The Titans? Pfft, hardly. Those goons couldn't stop ice from melting in January. The day they catch me is the day a paper dog chases an asbestos cat though HELL! I should just go and kill the rest of em while one of them's hurt, but I'm not cause I got bigger plans than that."_

_"Bigger plans? Jim..."_

_"Don't call me that! My name is HardRock, and I'm gonna rock this city so hard it won't know what hit it until I'm the ruler of all that is good and awesome and nothing can be done to change that." HardRock flipped his guitar and sent a crashing wave of sound at Red X, which he easily dodged. X counterd with a pair of red energy blasts that bounced off of a dormant AC unit and a retaining wall, and intersected on HardRock's form, causing him to shout out. HardRock collapsed to the ground, using his guitar as a crutch._

_Rob paused for a moment, desperately wanting to go help his friend. He stood stark still, until HardRock softly uttered "Bobby..."_

_X tentatively said "Yeah Jim?"_

_"You are a fucking idiot." And then HardRock flipped his instrument and struck the ground, letting loose a remarkably off key guitar riff that carried so much force it flung X across the street and onto the roof of an adjacent building. _

_After the blast HardRock sat in a circle of cleared concrete, the blast had flung away all the snow and even the gravel underneath. He flipped up his guitar and stood on it._

_The last thing X saw of his friend was a red figure flying off into the sky._

_

* * *

_

"... And then I came here."

I sipped the last of my coffee and stared at the petite visitor for a moment. "... You two swear a lot."

"Yeah, well..."

"I mean, I thought I swore alot but, man, you guys take the cake."

"Is this really the focus of our conversation?"

"No, no it's not. Just felt like saying it. Interesting story, though it needs a little more action. Maybe some ninjas, get back to me when you spice it up."

He just stared at me blankly.

"Hey, I'm still sort of recovering from dealing with your fellow roadie, and it's early for me, you have to bear with me here, I'm still half asleep."

"Fine, whatever. Anyway, I came to your tower" I snorted when he said 'your tower.' "To help you kids deal with Jim."

"What makes you think we need help?"

"Oh please, you guys got punked last time you fought him. Now that your down one member you need all the help you can get. Anyway, I know where he's hiding."

"Robin's not going to like this."

"Oh, chuckles, nah he should be alright with it."

"I dunno, he's even more of a hothead than usual when it comes to you."

"I suppose if I have to I'll just beat him up again."

"I guess that would work."

We were both silent for a good long while, slowly sipping our respective mugs. He broke the silence when he said "Hey, you haven't told him about who I am, have you?"

I thought back to the night before. "No, no I didn't."

"That's good." he took another chug of brew and then got up to pour more. "Could you please, y'know, keep it that way?"

"Why should I?"

"Otherwise I won't be able to run away anymore and he'll find out everything about me. I'd rather that not happen."

I only took a second to answer. "Sure, why not." I grabbed a newspaper off the floor, and then tossed it back to the ground when I saw it was yesterday's.

"I understand if you- wait, did you just say sure?"

"Yeah, that's what you wanted right?"

"Well, yeah. But I sorta thought there would be a little more, I dunno, thought put into it."

"Guess you thought wrong. Hey, I'm gonna run down and pick up the paper, and put on some clothes. It's mighty chilly."

"... kay."

I did just that, returning to my room to put on actual garments and my coat. I made a quick foray downstairs to collect the paper. The front page had something to do with Survivor. I pitched that on the way up.

Robert was still in the lounge, except now he wore his mask. I flopped down onto the couch with a slight hello. He just stared at me.

"What, do I have something on my face?"

"Why are you trusting me like this?"

"Huh?"

"I thought it was going to be so much harder than this, you pretty much handed me the Tower on a silver platter without a second thought!"

"Why are you looking a gift horse in the mouth?"

"I don't mean to! I'm just really confused."

"Robert, I don't trust you, hell, I don't trust anybody. Weren't you wondering why I hid a gun in the breadbox?"

"I was assuming to deal with intruders, I thought there were caches like that all through the tower."

"There are, but nobody but me knows about them. Over the last two months I've been hiding arms all throughout the tower. Do you want to know why? It's because I'm afraid of my team stabbing me in the back when I'm unarmed! There are maybe two people on this planet I actually trust, and if I told you who they were I would have to kill you."

"Shit."

"Shit's right."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, I know who you are. If you so much as whisper about hidden weapons in the tower I'll tell everyone and their mother that it's Robert Alberts behind that mask"

I could sense X narrowing his eyes in anger "You are a bastard..."

"Figure that one out on your own? Now tell me where Jim can be found."

"No, not until I talk to your spiky haired boss. I'm going to need his word that he'll take me along when we go."

"Fine, but I'm not waking him up. We'll just wait until he's up on his own. And when he does wake up, let me do the talking." I grabbed a bagel and cut in half with my claw. "Now then, you hungry?"

* * *

It turns out it was only a good forty minutes until Robin came into the lounge. 

The Boy Wonder strolled into the lounge, looking as chipper and bushy tailed as always. I was still sitting at the table from before, eating my breakfast and reading my paper. I waved him over.

I said through a mouthful of bread and cream cheesel; "Good Morning Robin. Sleep well?"

"Sure, pass the sports." I did so.

We silently sat for a moment before I swallowed my food and said "Say Robin, I got a question."

"Shoot."

"What would you do if I told you that I knew somebody who could tell us exactly where HardRock is and when he'll be there?"

Robin blinked, "Go on..."

I continued. "I can get such a person, but only under a few specific conditions. One; he is a criminal, but while he's helping us we can't worry about arresting him. Two; he can come with us when we go to take him down."

"I don't think I can do that Reaver, I would have to know that the person is a capable fighter, and at least some of the things he's charged with. To see if he's a credible lead."

"But if he's all those things, you'll deal with him right?"

"I'll give him a shot."

"Good enough for me. Alright man, you can come out."

X fell from the ceiling and landed silently behind Robin. Despite having made no sound, Robin still sensed the presence behind him and whipped around. He gasped deeply as X crossed his arms and exuded a smirk. I took a bite of my eggs.

X electronically voiced "Hey there kid, nice place you got here."

Robin just gaped. I decided to intercede before he started swinging. "Yeah, he's the contact I told you about. He knows where HardRock is going to be tomorrow night."

Robin responded, without taking his eyes off of X, "Reaver, do you any idea who this guy is? This is Red X! He's a ruthless criminal!"

"Ruthless? You wound me kid. I've definetly got ruths, I've got tons of ruths."

I piped up "Yeah I would say he's ruthful."

"Shutup! Your sleeping with the enemy Reaver! I won't allow this!"

"Sleeping with the enemy? Robin, apparently you don't even know who the enemy is. Because it's certainly not X here."

"Of course it is, him and HardRock are working together. It's all just a trick."

"That's where your wrong kid, HardRock and me had a bit of a falling out. I'm worried about him, that guitar of his has gone to his head. He won't listen to me, and I need help to save him."

"A likely story."

I shook my head and stood up "Of course it's a likely story, if it was an unlikely one there's no way you would believe it." I grabbed Robin's arm and dragged him away.

He said "Are you insane? Why the _fuck _did you bring him here? This compromises the entire security of the Tower, he may know access codes, security installations, database entries."

"Robin, none of that's important, you hear me, none of it. What is important is that we have a lead that I can vouch for when I say that he's telling the truth."

"And how do you know that?"

"It's not HardRock's style to be this sly, I've seen his type before. He's a bravo, he'd want to challenge us before he fought us, and then on relatively fair grounds."

"I won't allow this Reaver, not in a million years."

"Robin, what did I say about angst? I read his file Robin, and all of the reports you guys filed on him. He stole the suit you made and went to town with it. You view him as your responsibility because effectively you created him. Well get over it Robin, what's done is done. Now either you can violently assault him like a childish ass, or you can swallow some pride and accept help when it's offered."

Robin seemed pensive.

"If you have another lead that can take us to HardRock, by all means bring in X. Hell, I'll help, we'll make it a party, drag up the other Titans and we can just pound on him for a few hours before we throw what's left in a paddy wagon, pat ourselves on the back, and go do the same to HardRock.But if you don't have another path to take then I suggest going along with this. Because if you don't, me and X will go and do this and I don't care about what you have to say otherwise."

Robin glared at me, and whipped around. He walked up to X, stared up at where his eyes would be, and extended a hand. X tentativel grabbed it. Robin shook it and said "Welcome to the team, temporarily." He suddenly jerked his hand down and leaned it, saying something so quietly into X's ear I couldn't hear it. He threw X's hand away and stormed off.

X walked up to me, rubbing his wrist. "Your boss is a flaccid penis."

"Classy," I sat back down "what did he say."

"I cannot contain my lust for you any longer, I must have you. Meet me inmy room, numberB-18, I will be waiting my love."

"Wouldn't surprise me."

"I'm joking, I actually don't know what he said. I turned me ears off."

"Wait, you can do that?"

"Yeah. I'm assuming it had something to do with him watching me and/or beating my ass when this is done with."

"Man, now I've really gotta get Robin to make me one of those suits."

We laughed. I extended my hand "But seriously man, I gotta thank you for helping us out like this, Robin may not show it but he really appreciates it under all the angst and teenager-ness."

"Pleasure's all mine, Reaver. I just hope it makes a difference."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I know what Jim's planning, and I don't know if we're able to stop him."


	30. Seven Nation Army

An hour later, lounge of Titan's Tower.

Robin had roused all the other Titans and they sat in the lounge, warily eyeing our guest. The only person who even sat within ten feet of him was me, and even then I kept my nerves on edge.

Once we were all present Robin gave X the floor, rather reluctantly I might add.

X didn't move from his spot, he just started talking. "Hello all. Before I begin, I gotta say one thing. I know you guys hate me, probably hate me alot, and there's no friggin way in hell any of you are ever going to come even close to trusting me. That's not what I'm after, I couldn't care less about what you rugrats think of me. But if we don't work together Jim's going to kill so many people it's frightening. So what do you punks have to say?"

Everyone just stared at him with various amounts of negative emotions. Raven glared cold malice at him, Starfire with a focused anger, Cyborg with a barely contained restraint, and Robin with a wild intensity.I'm pretty sure that if X farted they would be all over him.

I stood up "Knock it off with the third degree. X isn't all bad. He may not be the nicest person, but then again neither am I. Cut him some slack alright. You guys are looking at him like he's murdered a baby. At least maintain an illusion of courtesy, jesus..." I sat back down.

Everyone stared at me for a second before resuming trying to burn a hole in X's face, albeit with a certain lack of intensity, except for Robin. He stared even more heatedly.

X cleared his throat, which is avery curious sound filtered through a voice translator, and continued. "This guy's a music geek. It's hard to talk to him for five minutes without some sort of music reference. That's probably why he loves that guitar so much. For weeks now he's gone on and on about his favoriteband having a concert at the convention center downtown, tonight."

"What kind of band has a concert in the middle of winter?" queried Cyborg.

"The awesome kind, Flogging Molly. They're the best."

Starfire said "So the HardRock is going to partake in listening to a woman named Molly be beaten?"

X just stared at her for a couple seconds before saying "No, that's the name of the band. Is she an idiot?" We all ignored that question.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard. If we're after him why would he put himself out in the open like that?" This was, of course, Robin.

"Tactically it doesn't make sense, but I don't think you understand how much he loves The White Stripes. If any of them needed a kidney he would give them two."

"This sounds almost too good to be true."

"It does, doesn't it. I'm not trying to trick you or anything Robin, I'm trying to help out a friend. If your not going to act on this information I will. I don't really care what you do, It's just that HardRock has a better chance of being caught if there are more people there to catch him."

Robin stood up "Fine X, we'll help you. But don't think that this absolves you of any past crimes. Consider this borrowed time."

"Whatever you say Boy Wonder."

"When is this concert?"

"It starts at eight tonight, so we got about twelve hours kid. We should probably get started if we want a halfway decent plan set up before then."

"Alright then, we've got work to do. Reaver, you and X go down to the convention center and check it out. HardRock may have set something up beforehand, and I want you two to check it out."

We nodded and turned to leave, but not before X could toss out "Looking to get me out of your clubhouse as quick as possible eh?"

"Just shutup and go X."

X chuckled, once again an odd sound through his vocabulator, and turned to walk out. I shook my head and followed on his heels, or rather, would have if it wasn't for a green hand grasping my shoulder and spinning me about. Robin looked at Starfire and nodded, the Tamaranian nodded back and moved to escort X out of the tower.

Robin waited for the door to close before saying anything. "Cyborg, scan for bugs."

The metal man tapped into the interface in his arm a few times before responding; "Nothing, Red X didn't leave us any presents. It's safe to talk."

"Good." Robin turned back to me "Reaver, we need to talk."

"Alright, then talk."

"Why did you let X into the tower?"

"I didn't. He was here when I woke up, simple as that."

"Why didn't you apprehend him when you saw him?"

"I did, he told me that he knew something about HardRock so I eased up and listened to him. I'm sorry if that was wrong but I thought that the guy who grievously injured someone on this team was a slightly higher priority. Y'know, let the little fish go so you can catch the big, arm chopping, destructive fish later."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Be careful Reaver, X is tricky. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all an elaborate trick to get us to lower our guard."

"I would be. Red X doesn't strike me as that kind of person, I think he's honestly worried about his friend."

"Maybe, stay on your toes all the same."

"Roger that, I'm out. Later Robin, so long Cyborg, goodbye Raven." And I turned and walked out.

Cyborg turned to his leader. "You think all this is on the up and up?"

"I don't know Cyborg, I can tell he's hiding something from me."

Raven spoke for the first time that morning "Yes, both of them are hiding something from us, something important to the other. Unfortunately I couldn't sense what it was."

Robin rubbed his chin. "Alright, keep an eye on the both of them. We can't discount the idea that they're working together, but until we get some hard evidence, keep things quiet. And don't mention any of this to Starfire. I'm afraid she might let something slip to Reaver."

"Don't worry Robin, you can trust me."

"Yeah man, my lips are sealed."

"Good, now we need to get started on a plan. Raven, bring up the plans on the convention center.Cyborg, I need you to calibrate the sensors to pick up HardRock's sonic frequencies. Maybe if we..."

And so went the planning.

* * *

Later that night, Jump City Convention Center. 

Red X and I were crouched in the high rafters over the enormous open room that was the convention center. We didn't find anything in our preliminary search of the place except for a drunk janitor and an almost empty bottle of whiskey. I took care of the almost empty part. I felt it was appropriate for the type of concert we were at.

The rest of the group had no luck tracking down James before the concert of course, so they had implemented a plan to apprehend him here at the concert. Everyone else, minuse BeastBoy, was currently attempting to go incognito outside to make sure he didn't get in. X and I were there to act as an early warning system in case he tried anything, which he hadn't so far.

Apparently the others had failed in their attempts to catch him before he entered the building, because it was fifteen after 8, and pretty much every single seat was filled and the concert was in full swing. I probably shouldn't say seat, nobody was sitting down. True to an Irish Rock concert at least half of the attending audience was already smashed.

X and I were lucky. The entire concert hall was acoustically designed to project sound into the lower levels, and not so much up. We were free from most of the needlessly loud music. It was at a volume where we could talk over it fairly easily.

However we weren't making use of that faculty at the moment.

I leaned against a cold as hell I beam, shivering something fierce under my coat. None of the heating managed to get up here from the ground floor, I'm not totally sure how that works. Something about fans to keep the warm air where it's needed. It saved the city hundreds in heating costs and chilled me to the bone. To me it wasn't worth it.

X was laying down on the beam across from me, looking rather comfortable. Later I would find out that his suit had a temperature regulation system in it that kept it at a comfortable 73 degrees. At the time I just thought he was being a badass.

Robert broke the silence about half an hour into the performance. "Yo Reaver."

"Y-yeah."

"What are you planning to do with Jim after we take him down?"

I thought about that for a moment. "What do you want to do with him?"

"I asked first."

"Fine." I sighed. "Probably take him to jail or something. Maybe the hospital if he gets hurt. Your turn."

"I was planning on getting him out of town. Heading to maybe Star City. I hear the winters there are awesome."

I chattered for a moment, and rubbed my hands together. "It would seem we have a problem then don't we?"

"I guess so."

"Normally I would be fine with looking the other way on this one. Just letting you and your friend fade into obscurity. But he hurt a friend of mine, badly. If his arm even recovers it's never going to be the same again. He probably won't be able to feel in at least a few fingers. I can't easily forgive something like that. If I had my way I would cut off HardRock's arm and burn it in front of him, but circumstances prevent me from doing that."

"I see. Then I'm gonna have to fight you then."

"Looks that way."

We both just sat there for a while after that, just letting the frigidness of the evening permeate the air and the sounds and smells of all the people below us drift upwards into a thick cloud all around us. It was intoxicating, or maybe that was just the whiskey.

A thought occurred to me, and I smirked and snorted out a laugh. "I was just thinking. When this is over, and HardRock is laying unconscious between us, we're gonna start fighting, and neither of us is going to hold back. Two warriors, fighting with all that they can muster, over friends that aren't even participating in the duel. You know Robert, you and me aren't so different. If circumstances were altered, I'm pretty sure I could be the one in that suit, and you could be the one talking his ass off."

Bob just looked off into space as I continued. "Anyways, that's just the thoughts of a curmudgeon who's got nothing better to do than talk, so don't give it any more credit than it deserves."

I'm sure X would have said something in response, but instead he perked up and stared intently down at the people below before saying "Quick, what was the name of that song they just finished?"

"Seven Deadly Sins, I think. I wasn't really paying attention."

"That's Jim's favorite song, he always said that he would give anything to hear it played in concert."

"Wait, are you saying that he was waiting to attack because he wanted to hear a favorite song played?"

"I think so."

"Damn," I yanked out my communicator"I think that HardRock is going to make a-"

I was cut off by an earth shattering blast of sound that cleared to main stage of occupants, save the equipment. The beam I was standing on vibrated powerfully and a sent streams of dust from the ceiling. I fell off my perch, but X grabbed my hand and save me from falling into the drunken masses below.

I looked down at the destruction and lethargically said into the yellow device; "Nevermind." I sighed and flipped it shut.

X yanked me up and I drew out my pistols. "Remember the plan Robert, we wait for the others to make an initial strike before do anything. Alright? Robert?" I turned and didn't see my partner. I looked down and saw him sliding down along a pipe on the wall. I cursed and leapt after him.

X touched down on the ground and made a bee line through the crowd, headed right for the stage. I followed after, the crowd was hindering us both. As we ran, HardRock began to talk.

"Good evening ladies and bastards, I am the one and greates HardRock! I come to you this evening to deliver a message, and that message is that HardRock is your lord and master of all that is awesome, and you good motherfuckers are all my loyal subjects! Now, prepare to be rocked so **HARD!" **

HardRock began strumming on his guitar, but instead of a deadly pulse of supersonics, he started to play Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. And I must say, I've never heard it played that well, not even Mr. Hendrix himself was that good.

I listened to the siren melody, enthralled by the perfection that was before me. I didn't even realize that I had stopped moving, and just stared slack jawed at the master musician on stage. I could stop him and send him to jail after this song, yeah, that would be fine...

I felt someone shaking me, and talking, no, yelling, drowning out the music. This made me angry and I lashed out, punching the offending person back. I didn't bother to follow up, I didn't want to take my attention away from James any longer than I had to.

I felt an odd presence on my ears, muffling the music completely. I snarled and prepared to swing back, but it was at that exact second taht the mind control wore off.

I stood there and blinked, still prepared to knock off the man's head as he stood behind me covering my ears. I stepped away and turned back on him and realized that X had seen me and come back for me. "Sorry about that." Now free of X's muting I could once again hear the music, but it didn't carry the same candy like allure as before, though it was still very good.

Rob didn't even notice that I had said anything. I'm assuming he had turned his ears off and didn't want to risk mind control.

As I was thinking about mind control I had a thought, and that thought scared me. I looked around and sure enough, every single one of them had the same slack jawed empty eyed stare that I was carrying a moment ago. I thought back to the mindset from before, and realized that each and every one of these people were HardRock's mind slave in every single respect. Every man, woman and child would be perfectly willing to die for HardRock's music, all he had to do was give a command.

And I was in the middle of thirty-two hundred soldiers in HardRock's army.

I almost shrieked in fear. I grabbed X and leapt up and towards the exit. HardRock was in the throes of his playing, and didn't notice us.

I ran us out into the atrium. X turned back on his ears. "Whatdo you think your doing?"

"Hiding for the moment."

"Why?"

"Because every single one of those people is HardRock's mindslave, that's an army of three thousand able bodied men and women. We need to find my teammates."

"That won't do any good. During that jump I saw them over by the south exit. They've gone slack jawed idiot on us"

"Crap... Okay I got a plan. We sneak around and catch him by surprise. If we interrupt that song maybe it will break the mind control."

Just then the song ended.

"Double Crap! Okay let's still sneak around. I don't think he know we're here."

The doors to the main hall opened, and a gaggle of empty eyed mind slaves poured in. One of them pointed at us and shouted "Seize the interlopers!"

"Triple Crap! Okay, new plan. KICK ASS!" And I leapt into the fray with X only a step behind me.

I swung to the side, knocking two mindslaves away at once. I kept going with the spin and brought up a foot, turning into a whirling dervish of limbs that tore a ragged hole through the mass.

X's fighting was far more precise, consisting of a series of quick jabs and kicks. He wasn't making much progress on the offensive, but his counters were devastating. One man swung a wide hook at X's face but he caught it and twisted, putting the man in a position to be thrown. He spun and chucked the large man into the mass of mind slaves, taking down a good five of them at once.

We continued at this pace for five minutes, making no real progress. Half of the people I put down got up just a second later, ready for more. The mind control/drunkeness had give these people a resilience that seemed beyond normal human limits. So we were trapped fighting a horde of people that would not stay down all to the tune of Let the bodies hit the floor! by Drowning Pool. I felt it was appropriate.

A horde of slaves tackled me to the ground, and then dogpiled on me. There was a good thirty of them. Normally I would have had no trouble, but they were well coordinated zombies. Four of them acted at once, jamming a knife in each of my joints. I screamed in pain and tried to stand, but an important muscle had been severed. I tried to regenerate but the knives had been left in my joints, preventing me from recovering. I couldn't move my limbs. Then they started punching me.

That was more than enough for me. I jerked my arm and shot out my claw, right into one of the men's gut. He let out an oddly euphoric scream and rolled off. I flicked my wrist and got another one, and then another. In a matter of seconds I was surrounded in a halo of bleeding, writhing, moaning forms. I shook out the knives and healed the holes in my joints just in time before the slaves renewed their attack with a newfound fervor.

I was tired of messing around. I callously slugged one man across the face, breaking quite a bit of his face in the process. I side swiped and cut one man's hand off cleanly so it could be reconnected. One of them jammed a knife in my kidney from behind. He ended in a great gout of crimson.

I started to work my way over to X. I assumed he was where all the bright flashes of red light were coming from. I punched a hole in the throng of people and saw X standing there surrounded by a circular mound of bodies so high that his opponents had to climb up their fallen allies to reach him. One of them climbed up and was shot back by a sticky red X that plastered him to the ceiling. I noticed there were several others up there with him from previous shots.

I leapt up and into the crater of bodies, landing next to a very surprised X. I grabbed his arm and shoted "C'MON!" or something to that effect and I jumped up and over the crowd of people, dragging him with me.

There was a collective and very terrifying shriek of dismay from the people underneath me as I soared over them with a series of quick hops, moving to quick to be grabbed at or struck. After three jumps we landed outside the press of enemies and started running like it was out job.

X huffed out "Where are we going?"

"We weren't accomplishing anything back there, we need to get to HardRock and end this. When we reach the main doors go over the crowd and get to him. If we catch him by surprise we should be fine."

X nodded.

When we reached the main doors I kicked them off their hinges and dove into the room, only taking a second to take in the whole situation.

What I saw gave me pause.

"Well, that's unexpected." Is all I could say.


	31. Highway to Hell

Ten minutes previous, Red X and myself had escaped from what was once an enormous room decorated to look like an irish pub. They had done well, placing green streamers around, dressing up the people working in the bar, the whole kitten-kaboodle. During the time we were gone however the place had, mutated is the best way to put it I guess.

It looked like an 80's death metal concert gone horribly, horribly wrong. An enormous backround was mounted behind the stage that looked way too much like souls burning infire. A giant inflatable Satan hovered over the stage held by gossamer thin wires I think, maybe it was just floating, I don't know. The crowd was enthusiastically jumping up and down in a crude mishmash of bodies, somehow they too had manifested rock and roll outfits, and for some reason all the men had full moustaches. Leather vests, knee high boots, mohawks, stitched leather bodices, spiked heels and so many piercings. An average of three piercings per person. And through it all HardRock played Hardcore Death Metal remarkably well on his ruby guitar, only this time he had a full band.

And it was the Titans, it was the freaking Titans.

Every single one of them looked likeGwar band members. The easiest way to describe it isBDSM outfits with odd plates of spiky bone and carved demon faces of bone. I'm pretty sure that their costumes were actually made from bone. I got to this conclusion due to the fact that strips of flesh were still attached to the bone. I could tell that the male Titans were also wearing moustaches. Cyborg was on drums, Starfireon bass, Robin was on backup vocals, and Raven was on backup guitar. BeastBoy was still back in the Tower recovering.

HardRock himself looked barely changed. His hair was black and he was wearing tight leathers. He was also sporting a bushy goatee as he and the Titans tore it up with their perfect playing.

And me and X were at the far back, away from where we needed to be.

I said "Shit..."

At that point the zombie slaves caught up to us.

X and I whirled around, drawing our respective weapons, and met the charge. We didn't give a shit about hurting people anymore. A crimson path was being cut to the stage through the throng of fans. Men and women fell to our flashing blades. The rusty scent of blood filled the air. It was intoxicating.

Despite our efforts, we were at a disadvantage. We were slowly getting tired, sluggish in our movements, and our opponents were ludicrously tough. I could sense it, they were wearing us down. I was focusing on fighting, and couldn't spare the time to banish my fatigue. Soon they would come all together, and we wouldn't be able to beat them back. I desperately tried to come up with a plan.

X beat me to the punch. He grabbed my arm and launched and grappling hook back up into the rafters. X dragged me up to safety.

We looked down at the screaming mass of fighters and shuddered. People who should have very dead were getting back up and reaching futilely for us. I looked at X "Well, that was fun."

"This is insane! How is Jim doing this to these people!"

"I dunno, but we have to stop him. I think I can hit him from here..." And I sighted in my Glock.

"NO!" X yelled as he lunged at my firearm, but he was too slow. I squeezed off a round that was heading straight for HardRock's chest.

Unfortunately the bullet was deflected by a powerful outward pulse of sound from the stage. The bullet flew up and popped the giant inflatable satan. As it deflated I swear I heard it scream. HardRock stopped the music.

The concert hall echoed with the remnants of his last few chords before everything fell silent. HardRock, the possessed Titans, all the zombie fans, were staring right at us.

I stood there, X holding down my arm which still carried the smoking gun, with a look that said "Oh shit" all over it. We stood that way for a good minute, nobody even moving a hair.

HardRock made the first move, raising his arm to slam his guitar. X and I leapt apart just in time as a wave of sound tore into the ceiling and made a hole big enough for a semi truck. Over the din I heard HardRock shout "Get them my groupies, I will continue rocking out!" The Titans dropped their instruments and ran out into the crowd, still in their gwar costumes.

Cyborg clacked his arm into his sonic cannon and shot at me, tearing up the beam I was standing on. I got ready to leap away but a claw of black telekinesis grabbed atmy feet. I leapt away, but it spun and hurtled at me again. We playedcat and mouse for a while before it snagged my legand hurled me against the wall. The claw twisted about and came right in at me again.

I thudded my claw into the wall and used it as a fulcrum, flipping myself up and over the claw by scant inches.

Then one of Robin's birdarangs flew in and impaled my other hand to the wall, I grunted and lost my hold on the wall with my claw. I fell down and the birdarang was dragged through my hand.

I landed against a pile of chairs, clutching my hand. Cyborg stomped up to me, glaring down at me behind his calcium helmet. I leapt up and kicked at him, but he grabbed my foot and held me upside down. He jabbed at my face with his sonic cannon. I winced and scrambled to dodge, the weapon going off so close to my head I felt my teeth rattle. I brought about my other leg and kicked him in his moustachioed face.

Behind me a group of black chairs lifted up and snapped into pieces, sharp jagged metal pieces. They leveled and soared at me.

I didn't realize what was going on until the last second, and that was too late for any real defense. A chair leg skewered my thigh, another impaled my kidney, and another got me in the meat of the forearm. I shrieked and fell down, focusing on my regeneration. I didn't have long because Robin flew out of fricking nowhere, smiling under hisblack moustache,and kicked me in the face, sending me flying back just in time to get punched in another direction by a recovered cyborg. A black claw curled up and slammed me in another direction, right back at Robin. It was like some horrible game of three way tennis.

Thankfully I was saved by a flurry of exploding shurikens that blasted everyone but me away. X nimbly landed.

I looked at him with one eye that wasn't swollen shut. "I don't wanna play anymore."

"Reaver, get up! We have a job to do dammit!"

"I miss my blood..." And I rolled over.

X kicked my in the head. "Heal yourself, c'mon!"

"Huh." and I started regenerating, fixing the life threatening stuff first. It took about thirty seconds for me to be able to stand. I still felt like someone had worked over my muscles with a sledge hammer but that was an improvement at that point.

The possessed people had formed a rough circle around us, wielding whatever weapons they could. The blasted back Titans had recovered and were arming various weapons/powers at us.

X and I stood back to to back. Me with my claw and shield active, a glock held in my regenerated shield hand. X was holding twin fans of red shurikens. We both setourselves to charge...

And then HardRock tore into a guitar riff that caught all out attentions. It sounded like his guitar was chanting in a language that I couldn't recognize. We all stared at the spectacle and took in the sound.

Then the wierdest thing yet happened. The backdrop behind him started to... flicker. Like real flames. Then the figures inside it began twisting and howling. An oppressively hot wind came from the stage thatdragged a plethora of odors with it. I could smell brimstone and sulfur, and ash, lots of ash. The oddest thing was I also picked up the smell of cooking beef, it took me a second to realize that it was burning bodies.

The backdrop however still looked like a well made cardboard cutout, albeit a very creepy and terrifying one. But that was all about to change.

HardRock slammed another guitar note, and reality broke. That's right, the area in and around the backdrop shattered with the sound of cracking crystal, sending scything blades of reality flying everywhere. One fanatic next to me was cut in half by a wayward slice of existence, his top half fell into the slice and it clattered to the floor. In the slice I could see his top half looking around confused.

Replacing the backdrop was a jagged hole in the universe. On the other side there was a perfect real life representation of the drawn, cardboard backdrop. A few of the people on the other side noticed the portal and started to crawl through, but where stopped bysome sort of barrier, and they sat there pounding their stick thin limbsonthe translucentsurface in a vain attempt at escapeSeeing that is on my Top Ten List of Fucked Up Stuff That's Happened To Me.

As one the mass of people started going towards the stage. The closest ones were able to quickly dive into the portal, and then they just disappeared in a puff of sickly yellow smoke.

X and I stared in total, abject horror as the possessed people flung themselves into Hades' waiting maw. For every person who went in a little piece on the edge of the portal flaked off, making it bigger.

That lit a fire under my ass. I'd demonology, and I knew that more powerful hell fiends needed larger portals to cross over from plane to plane, and I sure as hell wasn't going to stand back and let a demon into this world. I leapt up and over the crowd, flying towards the stage. As soon as I landed I started knocking people away from the portal, desperately trying to keep them out.

HardRock leveled his guitar at me and raised his arm. He struck a chord, but at the last second X teleported under it and punched the neck of the instument, causing the shot to go up and over me.

Robert electronically said "JIM! What the fuck are you doing!"

"Why, bringing sweet salvation to my loyal followers, bitch."

"What? Your sending them into hell you crazy bastard! Can't you see that?"

"No Rob, it is you can't see! I finally have power now, power enough to be better than you, and I'm using it for something worthwhile, and your too blinded by envy to see that!"

"Rob... that guitar is controlling you isn't it? It's twisting you."

"SHUTUP! This guitar is nothing more than just a useful tool."

"Then give it to me!"

"No!"

:"Give me the damn guitar Jim! If it has no control over you then give it to me!"

"NO!"

"I'll fight you if I have to Jim, I'll kill you!" X snapped out his wrist blades.

HardRock flipped his guitar into axe swinging mode, and said nothing.

They stood there like that for what seemed like an eternity with the cacaphony of hell raging just a few feet away from them. I bashed more thugs.

X's arms drooped, and he reached up and tore off his mask, revealing his sweaty face and unkempt hair to the world. HardRock's arms lowered some.

"I can't fight you Jim, who am I kidding I can't even be mad at you. Even after everything you've done, I can't be mad at you. Kill me."

HardRock's eyes widened.

"C'mon, do it. I won't even defend myself."

HardRock raised his guitar over his head, lunged, and brought it around right into his friend's gut. The guitar sheared through black material, flesh, and then moreflesh.

I remember the amazing clarity of that moment, like on the rooftop with Starfire and Star Sapphire. I recall every single detail of that scene. The look on Robert's face, the blood oozing out of his stomach, the number of teeth flying from the man's face that I punched(4), the dull thud of pathetic souls trying to escape hell, the coppery taste of splashed blood, and most off all the sharp transition that James' face went through, from grim determination to perfect shock.

X fell to the ground, the guitar still buried in his chest. Jim fell with him, laying by his side on the bloodied stage.

"Holy crap, Bob! **BOB! **Talk to me man! Talk to me!" He shook his downed friend, desperately trying to get a response from him, but none was forthcoming. Jim leaned down, sobbing next to his friend. I saw the faintest bit of movement from Robert's lips as he whispered something into his friend's ear that caused Jim to pause, and then get up, holding the guitar. He raised it and broadside smacked onto the stage, shattering it at the base of the neck.

Suddenly the people all around me stopped, and shook their heads like they were waking up.They all passedat once, which made my job easier.

Jim pointed at me and shouted "Get Rob out of here. **NOW!**I'm going to close this thing, get to a safe distance."I listened, scooping up the limp form at my feet and ranaway from the portal to hell. Jim grabbed Raven's old guitar and strapped it on before turning to look at the steadily expanding portal to hell. He raised his arm and broke into the greatest feat of guitar playing ever...

The song Maggot Brain, by the one and only Funkadelic.

I set down Robert and watched the proceedings. Somehow his playing had halted the portal's growth, but wasn't closing it. In the portal I saw forms edging closer, odd twisted shapes that defied the laws of physics with their existence, as they got closer the portal began to expand.

Robert weakly wheezed out "Get me up there, he needs backup." I grimly nodded and made a beeline for the stage, Robert in tow. He grabbed Starfire's discarded bass and sat down on the drummer's stool. He then began playing the bass portion of Maggot Brain. I would have hopped on drums, but I don't know how to play.

Thankfully that wasn't really needed. The two of them playing perfectly had an otherworldy effect on the portal, causing it to slowly shrink down, despite the demons on the other side.

I thought we had this beat when an enormous red arm shot out of the portal and grabbed Jim in it's meaty fist. The portal resumed expanding, the enormous demon starting to push it's head through.

I desperately looked around, and saw a useful tool. One of the shards of reality that was embedded in the stage, about the size of a dinner plate. I reached down and grabbed it, a curious sensation. And readied myself to throw.

A great big glowing red eye squeezed through the portal, and as did a chilling laugh from the behemoth. I spun and hurled the shard of existence.

I got lucky, really lucky. The fragment tumbled straight into the beast's eye, eliciting a thunderous roar of pain and rage that I heard in my head more than anything else. It's head withdrew, and the portal constricted around it's arm, the arm that still held a flailing James.

Robert grabbed for his friend, and snagged his arm, both of them were shouting at eachother to not let go and to hold on. Apparently the demon was weakened by my attack, because Rob dragged him out somewhat, but not enough.

I could have dove and grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the demon's grasp. I could have saved his life. But my convictions overwhelmed my ethics, and I stood there, grim.

The last memory I have of James Walker is him flailing for his friend's hand as he's dragged into hell, his frightened voice bouncing around the auditorium.

That's all he is now, memories and echoes.


	32. Echoes

Downtown was cold that day, it looked like that melt we experienced earlier that month was some sort of cosmic joke.

It was about a week after the fiasco at the convention center. The policeshowed up a couple minutes after HardRock was taken, andnone of the mind slaves remembered anything that happened, I was very jealous. I was really the only person that knew anything about what happened. I fed them a lie about HardRock taking over their minds and plotting to hold themransom, and unfortunately he was killed when he fell from a rafter. I pinned his body's whereabouts on Red XI went home as soon as I could, ignoring the other Titan's questions. Red X was nowhere to be found.

I purposefully kept myself shut away from any and all information regarding the incident, I didn't want to hear on the news how many people Red X and I killed, or how many people were mad that we let them get hurt. I just stayed locked up in my room, making bullets and reading my musty old books. I was truly surprised Robin hadn't burst into my room to shove a birdarang up my ass.

The only reason I had left today was because a note had been left outside my door, and told me to come to a little diner downtown. I had nothing better to do, so I threw on my coat and decided to hoof it.

I pushed open the rickety door of the diner around four in the afternoon. The place was filled with factory workers on a long lunch break. I hung my coat on one of the pegs near the door.

I saw him a booths down, sitting by himself with a mug of steaming coffee. It was black, of course. I sat down across from him.

Robert Alberts was somberly staring into his hot drink like it would do something besides steam if he focused on it. Without even looking at me he said "Hey."

"Yo."

"Does Pam know about what happened."

"Yeah, I told her. She was hysterical, couldn'teven go half sentence without crying."

"She just needs time."

"Went to her place yesterday, she was dead. Took a whole bottle of sleeping pills and laid down on the couch."

What followed was three minutes of painfully awkward quiet, then me ordering a coffee, then another three minutes of quiet.

Robert broke the silence. "Do you know what they're saying about the number of people who died that night?"

"No, and to be honest I don't want to know."

He told me anyway. "None."

I almost choked on my coffee.

"It's true, they're saying not a single person was killed, there are tons of injuries, but no deaths."

"How the hell is that possible."

Robert took a deep breath. "That night, I saw one of my friends at the concert. She had always been a big Flogging Molly fan and I wanted to see if she had been hurt. The next day I called her, and she didn't live in her apartment anymore, in fact someone else was living there, claimed to have lived there for over five years. I did some digging, and get this, I couldn't find any trace of my friend, like she never existed. And as I sit here now, I can't imagine her face, or any details about her. I talked to some other friends and they don't remember ever having known anyone by that girl's name."

My eyes widened.

"Think about it, can you remember anyone who died that night with any clarity?"

I leaned back and closed my eyes in thought, and then they snapped open when I realised I couldn't. I knew they were there, and what they did, but not what it looked like. I remembered that they screamed, but not what the screamed sounded like. It was like someone was describing it to me, and it never really happened to me. The really weird part is that the ones who we only hurt stood out with perfect clarity.

Robert kept talking. "Anyone who died in that concert hall, or went through that portal, it's like they were never born. Never existed. Except for Jim, I can remember him perfectly. Can you remember him?"

"I can."

"Good. Maybe he's alive."

He was alive, but was a living soul in hell, quite possibly the worst fate for any living thing in existence. I decided not to tell him that. I changed the subject. "Why are you telling me this?"

"We're the only ones who aren't affected by that memory alteration, at least not to the extent that everyone else was affected. I need to see if you have another memory, or if I'm just imagining something."

"Shoot."

"When we started fighting the Titans, was Jim playing anything?"

I thought back, and realised that he hadn't been playing anything. "No, all I remember is him playing that one riff that sounded like the guitar was talking."

"If that was all he needed to do, then why didn't he open the portal faster?"

"You tell me."

"When I was fighting Starfire, I saw one guy on the stage, fighting Jim. He kept him busy long enough for me to take down the red head and get to you. If it wasn't for him Jim would have been able to turn his attention on us, and we would have lost. I don't know how he evaded the mind control, but he did and fought bravely, and saved us and everyone else at that concert, and only I remember him. Even then it's hazy, like a dream. In a few hours I'll think he never existed."

I calmly took a sip of my coffee, it was cold already.

Rob took a sip from his mug. "That ain't right, that ain't right at all."

"Nothing about that night is right Robert, absolutely nothing."

He slammed his fist down on the table "How many times has this happened? Hundreds of people dying and nobody noticing. It could have happened again last night and we would never notice. Hell, how do you know that there weren't another four people on your team when you joined, but they've all been knocked off of existence. You might have a sibling that you've never met, a kid that you never conceived, all because of that... thing that tried to crawl out of that portal. We can't let that bastard get away with this!"

I was silent as he kept talking."We have to do something about this. Maybe we can talk to that Jason Blood guy I heard about, or maybe the JLA, they could help. Irefuse to let someoneelse be manipulated likeJim, or be forgotten like those people. Me and you together can do this, we canmake sure something like this never happens again.What do you say?"

"Thanks for the coffee." I stood up and started walking to the coat rack.

"Where do you think your going? We have a job to do! We remember these things for a reason, you can't just turn your back on something like this!"

"I admire your enthusiasm Robert, and wish you the best of luck, but if you going to do this your going to do it alone. I'm sorry, but I've fought enough demons." And I walked out into the cold snow.

* * *

I quietly walked into the main room of the tower, a thick layer of snow on my shoulders and head. I shook that off and sat down on my spot on the couch. Vortucal hopped into my lap and rubbed against my chest. I scratched her behind the ears. 

BeastBoy and Cyborg were having an argument; "Dude, you totally should have seen me. I was like a green casanova."

"No way, that's bullshit."

"Seriously, those girls were totally into me."

"BB, there's no way you were in a strip club, much less you were schmoozing it up with anyone. Your making it up."

"Dude, harsh! Reaver, you were there, tell him! Tell him all about me in Club Isabella."

I looked at the green elf, and decided to be nice. "Oh yeah, BeastBoy was a real romeo. I know they're paid to be nice to him, but they were borderline breaking the law. I had to drag him away from them."

"Told you." Said BeastBoy with a triumphant smile.

Cyborg just huffed and turned away. BeastBoy was beaming.

"When are you going to shave Cyborg?" The metal man stopped and looked at Raven, who had spoke.

"Why whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I mean Cyborg."

"Oh, you mean, _THIS!" _and he whipped around and triumphantly pointed at the thick, black moustache he spontaneously grew a week ago.

"Yes, that, when will you be getting rid of it."

"Never, I've always wanted one of these things."

"It looks like your growing a caterpillar on your lip."

"Love you too Rae."

Robin looked up from helping Starfire. "Cyborg, you really should get rid of that thing, or at least trim it. It looks like a bush." In truth it really did.

"No way, I'm letting it grow out. Don't worry Robbie, someday you'll grow up and be able to grow one too."

I smirked. "Hey, I got an idea. Let's settle this with a bet. If I beat you at a game of pool, you shave that furred monstrocity on your lip."

Cyborg thought for a moment before responding. "What do I get if I win?"

"I'll, um, I'll shave" I looked around for a minute before settling on something "Anything of your choice."

Cyborg grinned "Deal!"

I jumped up and dashed into the elevator, laughing loudly with Cyborg and a pair of cats close behind, and then a grinning changeling. Last week was nothing more than one of many memories shoved into the back of my head.


	33. The chapter that needs no name

For the last six years, I have primarily lived alone. Occasionally circumstances would force me share a residence with somebody, but this was always temporary.

It is through my time at the tower that I have come to the conclusion that living with other people, much less a bunch of hormonal teenagers,is a remarkably different from living alone.

For one thing, roommates very often have opinions that they love to express, on a wide variety of topics.

Such as my own personal sense of fashion...

* * *

The elevator doors open with the beginning rays of sunlight just peaking over the horizon. Raven sits in the lounge with a thick book, she almost imperceptively looks over to see me walk in, groggy as hell. 

"Grrb, hello Raven, is coffee made yet?" I wipe my face.

"No it is not."

I grumble something unintelligible and shuffle over to the coffee maker and begin the arduous journey of coffee creation.

There is a brief minute of silence before Raven says "Reaver."

"Nnng?"

"Why aren't you wearing pants?" She says nonchalently.

"Huh, what are you talking-" then I look down and, sure enough, I am lacking in the pants department. "-oh. Sorry Raven, I'm not zactly a morning person."

"I know Reaver, just... try not to do it again."

"I make no promises."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

I amble back to the elevator, and make a few passes at the right button for my floor before finally getting it right. The door slides shut and I begin my trip to gather pants.

Raven shakes her head and sighs. "Third time this week. I have **got **to get him a coffee machine for his room."

* * *

or my ingenius method of dealing with problems.

* * *

The sun was maybe a few inches over the horizon on a cloudless, warm day. All six of the Titans are standing outside on a rocky cliff face with Robin behind a console, standing sideways to my position. I'm standing about a hundred feet away in the middle of a flat plain. 

A group of five floating drones rose up and aimed what were obviously lasers at me. I gingerly took a step away and looked around nervously. "What is it I need to do again?"

Robin shouted out "Just disable to drones however you can once the drill begins. Those things are made of polymerized titanium, with a housing that can't be shaked apart. Unless your packing bullets that can tear through a tank you won't be able to just shoot them. The drill will continue until either ten minutes elapses or all of the drones are disabled. The exercise will begin in five... four... three... two... one... GO!"

I sighted in and fired in one fluid motion, three loudcracks rang out. Three 9MM roundssoared through the air and sunk into the console in front of Robin,and all three drones fell to the ground twitching slightly. My time was 00:02:35.

Robin gaped at the destroyed computer, me, the drones, then me again. Then he just settled into this odd glare at all three at the same time. The rest of the team was laughing so hard they didn't notice.

I reloaded the three bullets and looked up at The Boy Wonder. "What?"

* * *

When you live with other people, it's an inevitability that you will be forced to change some things about yourself. Be this drinking habits...

* * *

Cyborg and I sat in the main room in front of the enormous television. He was destroying me at this robot fighting game, and I was desperately trying to not shatter the controller in my hands. A half glass of clear liquid sits next to me. 

BeastBoy stumbles in, lathered in sweat and panting like a dog. Robin is close behind him looking none the worse for wear. "Good work out BeastBoy, now get hydrated, we'll be starting again in fifteen minutes."

"Yeah(pant) sure... dude. Just(gasp) let me... get...water."

BeastBoy looks around and spots my glass. He starts making a bee line for it and snatches it up before I can notice. "What the? No BeastBoy!" But it's too late.

He's taken two long gulps before his eyes snap open and he stops dead, and then sprays it out in a fountain, all over the electronics

"MY GAMESTATION!"

"MY VODKA!"

* * *

...old habits...

* * *

In the basement I stood in front a large white washing machine with a laundry basket on a table next to me. I wore headphones, the electronic beats of Daft Punk bouncing around in my skull. My clothes betrayed the fact that it was laundry day. They were a sloppy pair of sweat pants, the left leg torn off at the knee,and a wife beater. 

Unbenownst to me, a figure clad in dark clothes sneakily opened the door slowly, making nary a sound. He lightly grinned as he tiptoed closer and closer to my unsuspecting back.

It wasn't until I felt a light wisp of breath on my back. At that I whipped around and swung a fist in a hail-mary arc. Whoever this guy was he was light, his body flew the fifteen feet into the wall. I drew a Glock in the same swift motion with my other hand and pointed it at the prone figure, and then lowered it when I saw it was BeastBoy.

"Shit! BeastBoy are you okay?" I ran over to him, tearing off the headphones along the way.

"Ow... I'm fine, I'm fine" he said more lethargically than I would have liked.

"What the fuck were you doing? You know not to sneak up on me!"

"Now I do." He staggered to his feet and I finally got a good look at him.

He was wearing a jet black body suit and had a set of three lensed green goggles on his forehead. I immediately understood.

"BeastBoy, have you been playing that Splinter Cell game?"

"...no."

"Dammit BeastBoy, you aren't Sam Fischer! You can't sneak up on somebody and kill them. It's not as easy as that games makes it out to be, killing people silently is way harder than that!"

At that last part BeastBoy just sort of stared at me in confusion and horror. I don't really know why.

* * *

...or my general feeling towards the public.

* * *

The robber turned down an alley, frantic and scared. His ski mask fell off long ago, showing his face to everyone he passed. He couldn't have been any more than eighteen. 

The thief knocked over garbage cans as he ran, swinging the lock box he stole from the armored car like a brick. Too bad for him nothing would stand in the way of his pursuer.

He didn't even see me coming. One second he was running away from a hold up gone bad, the next he was laid out on the concrete, a goose egg sized bump forming on his head. I cracked my neck and cuffed his sorry ass, laying down his rights as I did so.

When I escorted him out of the alleyway a small congregation had formed to watch me take him in, about thirty people. There was cheering and clapping. I'll admit, I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately the public distracted me from the teenager reaching out with a stick and putting it between my legs. I tripped, falling face first into the concrete. The thief saw his chance and dove, rolling over and reaching down.

I lifted up and looked behind me, seeing the kid who did it, laughing loudly with his dumbass friends. His buddies were patting him on the back, congratulating him andgiving him accolades. I got up...

...and fell back down as three sharp impacts tore into my chest. I clutched at it and saw that the kid had struggled to his feet and flipped his hands around to his front, in the process of doing so he drew a revolver from his ankle holster, and pumped me full of lead.

I regenerated, but by the time that was done the thief had a lead on me.

The son of a bitch who tripped me was slowly working back through the crowd, laughing uproariously. His two friends were giggling helplessly, patting him on the back. They must have seen the whole thing as one fat joke.

I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. He got a good look at me and his face went stone dead. I smiled. "Howdy."

"Dude, uh, shouldn't you be going after that guy?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because your going to do it for me." I got a tight grip on his shirt and flexed my arm, hurling the unsuspection bastard. He flew with the grace of a manatee

His friend gawked at me. "Dude! You just chucked John like a fucking football!"

To which I calmly replied "I'll make sure he gets a good samaritan award."

* * *

It's not just feelings and emotions that change when you undergo a major life change, it's your entire concept of normalcy. What would have once made you cringe, you accept with levity. This is even more so when it's teenagers, much less superpowered teenagers. But after all this time, I've grown used to pretty much all of it.

* * *

The sun was going down on another day at the Tower, and one of the first days of spring. The snow was now nothing more than an unpleasant memory, and we had our first warm day in weeks. I celebrated it by resting in a hammock on top of the Tower, two cats lounging on top of me, all three of us enjoying the fading warmth of the day. 

I started to nod off to the sweet land of sleep.

* * *

Unfortunately, there is one thing about the life of a superhero that is hard to adjust to...

* * *

Just as I'm nodding off...

A painfully loud screeching fills my ears, and causes me to wake up witha start. I flail my legs and roll out of the hammock, slamming my face on the concrete. My leg is still tied up in the net of the hammock.

Robin't voice crackles over a speaker that I swear to god wasn't there a minute ago. "Trouble at the prison. Titans GO!"

I kip up, yanking my foot out of the hammock. I grab my coat and leap off the building in one swift motion, preparing my legs for the impact as I go.

* * *

...the actual superhero part.


	34. Don't drop the soap

Eddies of dust flew out from the sides of my shoes as I landed from my long fall. My legs broke, but that was easily fixed. The other Titans plowed out of the entrance as I was straddling my Harley and starting her up.

As I cruised down the bridge leading from the Tower with the T-car close behind, Robin's voice crackled through my earpiece. "We've got a break out in the Zeta Block of the prison. None of the guards have reported back yet, but one of them was able to sound the alarm."

I shouted over the din of the bike "What's the Zeta Block?"

Cyborg next; "It's where we lock up all our mega bad guys. It got really full when we locked up those Broken Moon guys. So, who's busted out this time. Cinderblock? Killer Moth? Overload?"

Back to The Boy Wonder; "Doesn't say, so be ready for anything."

The ride to the prison was short, maybe five minutes. The police had already set up a thick barricade around the structure, like they were used to this kind of thing.

I recognized Officer Schmidt and walked up the scruffy faced man. "Hello Mr. Schmidt, hows it hangin'?"

He replied through a mouthful of pastry "Pretty good Reaver, and you can just call me Schmidt, no need for that mister bullshit."

It's at this point that I realize that I haven't really described Officer Schmidt. He was young, or at least looked young except for the flecks of grey in his hair and beard. He had a lazy beard, like he only shaves for special occasions and hasn't had a special occasion in about a week. Despite the fact that I had yet to see him without a sugary confection in his hand, he was still pretty thin.

"Alright Schmidt. Do you know anything about what's going on here?"

He took a sip of his coffee before responding. "Hell if I know. Nobody's come out and nobody's went in. We were all waiting for you. You guys got a plan or something?"

"I'm not the guy that makes plans, that's the guy in the green tights. I'm the one who kicks ass and shoots stuff."

He chuckled lightly "I hear ya. Hey, Robin's doing something, you should probably check it out."

"Alright, take it easy Schmidt."

I walked over to Robin, who had just finished getting status reports from five different officers and learned as much as I had shooting the breeze with Schmidt for a minute. Absolutely nothing.

The eyeslits on Robin's mask narrowed and he stroked his chin. The perfect detective face. I yawned, I was still a little tired from having my nap interrupted, and wondered if Cyborg would object to me taking a nap in the T-car. Vortucal andHarra'k rubbed against my legs. I didn't remember them coming with.

Robin brightened and pointed at all five of us. "Titans! Split up! We'll comb the prison. Cyborg and Raven, your with me. We'll search the north end. BeastBoy, Starfire, and Reaver, take the south. The police will search the rest of the prison."

All the Titans and two cats rushed into the prison and split up at the first hallway.

* * *

Robin's group darted down the hallway with practiced ease. 

The group rounded into a cell block that was filled with normal criminals. The lights were off except for dim emergency lights that barely illuminated the walkways and catwalks of the prison. Upon the Titans entering, the prisoners went into an uproar of leerings, hoots and hollers, mostly because Raven was the first woman these men had seen in about eighteen months.

"Hey baby, that cloak go all the way up?"

"Whoa sweetie, what are you doing all covered up like that, loosen up."

All this did however was make Raven put up her hood and float in such a way that her cloak covered up her entire body. She would not be bothered by the jeers of desperate men.

Then one of the lankier men reached out and slapped her rear.

_THAT _elicited a response.

He was thrown back into his cell so quickly you could hear the air whoosh. He started laughing and got back up, putting some of his weight on his bunk. "Oh sorry, what you want dinner and a movie first? I got some rice cakes and a boot leg porno in here if that counts."

Raven gritted her teeth and lifted up a gray glowing hand. Robin however interceded himself. "No, he isn't worth it Raven."

She grudgingly lowered her hand.

The prisoner, let's call him Jim, walked up to the bars and hung off of the cross brace near the top. "Aww, you went and hurt my feelings boy, saying I ain't worth it. What say you make it up to me?" And he grinned widely.

Robin scowled and grabbed Jim's shirt. "What happened to all the guards? What happened to the power?"

Jim just grinned.

"Answer me!"

Jim calmly said, in a raspy voice "Boy, you just found yourself a heap of trouble." And Jim grabbed Robin's wrist and pulled.

It was at that moment that every barred door in the block clanked open and a whole bunch of convicts filed out in rows, bearing ghetto prison weapons, like they had rehearsed this.

Raven didn't waste a second. She threw up a wall of black force to keep the surge of prisoners at bay, and Cyborg's arm morphed to his trademark sonic cannon.

Robin's arm had a heavy steel door slam on forcefully, eliciting a scream of pain from the Titan leader. A little known fact about prison doors is that they're programmed to stop applying pressure if an object obstructs their path, in order to prevent further injury. Even then the door doesn't close with enough force to do more than bruise.

Apparently Jim didn't know this, because as soon as the door slammed on Robin's arm he darted out of his cell and swung at him with a shiv. He was apparently counting on Robin being distracted by having his arm broken by what he assumed was a powerful impacting door.

To Jim's credit, he lasted lasted four seconds and came within eight inches of landing a blow, but then again Robin did only use the arm that wasn't restrained.

The three of them formed into a rough circle, Robin in the center with Cyborg to his right and Raven to his left. They were surrounded on all sides by a small army of escaped convicts, almost all of them armed with some sort of cruel looking weapon, and it was dark.

Cyborg muttered to himself. "I hope the others are having better luck."

* * *

We weren't. 

While unbenownst to us, our companions were now beset on all sides, we couldn't even find where we were going.

"I can't believe Robin sent the only three people who don't know the prison in the same fucking group." I said as I unsuccessfully navigated the labyrinthe that was the prison via the map that was installed in my communicator. I'm sure that the map was very good,but unfortunately in the low light I couldn't make out heads or tails, and Starfire's green torch wasn't helping a damn thing.

"Yes, once again I would like to apologize for my lack of knowledge about this locale."

"Nah, it's fine Starfire, I just need more light." I reached up and grabbed her wrist, jerking it closer to my communicator. In retrospect that was a bad idea.

My screen fizzled and scrunched up. My communicator melted into a lump of yellow from the heat of the starbolt.

The string of profanity I spouted as I ran around the hallway with a lump of melted plastic in my hand will not be repeated here, for it is far too long and vulgar for me to put words to. Starfire followed me the entire time, desperately apologizing for burning my hand. Later, BeastBoy would tell me that he found it very funny. Also later I would punch BeastBoy in the kidney.

After five minutes of scorching agony I had recovered my composure and stood there sans communicator and with a newly regenerated hand. "Alright, BeastBoy get your communicator out, we need to find our position in here."

"Alright" he took out the yellow device and flipped it open with a techno sound, "let's see, option, function... no... that's not it. Okay, this has to be it, no, crap!"

"Do you have any idea what your doing BeastBoy?"

"Sure, sorta..."

"Okay, I got nothing."

I sighed deeply, "Starfire do you know how to work your communicator?"

"I believe so." She removed hers and flipped it open. She tapped around for a few clicks before she found the map, eliciting an excited "I have it!" when she found it.

"Good, where are we and were do we need to go."

"Um, I do not know."

"What, let me see." I held out my hand and she turned the communicator around to show it to me.

"You see, I have the prison schematics, but they are not properly marked."

"So it's useless to us."

"...It would seem so."

I once again sighed. "Alright, fuck it, I'm going through the next door I see and damn the consequences. You guys don't have to follow me, but I'm going." I turned around and trotted away.

Starfire and BeastBoy stared at my back for a moment, looked at eachother, and then ran/flew to catch up to me. "Reaver!"

We would later find out that when BeastBoy was playing around on his communicator, he had accidently turned off his tracking device that was set into the device. If that was active Starfire would have seen a large blip on the screen that said 'BEASTBOY' and we could have navigated with that.

* * *

The door I had randomly chosen apparently led to the underground levels. This was where they stored the really bad ones, people who were too dangerous to not be surrounded on all sides with several tons of concrete and steel. It was like walking into a tomb. 

The place had an odd feeling to it. In both the atmosphere and to my life sense. It was like everything was either muted or vibrantly alive. Either the prisoners down here had given up already or were alive with activity, plotting their own escape or what they would do when they were out. It was, unsettling. It's not common that you see that kind of variation in such a close vicinity.

I strolled past a door that was slightly open and did a navy seal stop motion with my my hand. Both of the teenagers behind me eeped slightly in surprise, bumped into me, and generally made a racket before stopping. I actually longed for the discipline of Robin. I focused, and didn't sense anything on the other side of the door. I slowly crept forward and pushed it open, sawed-off Mossberg resting in my other hand.

Inside I saw a large set up of mechanical and electrical equipment all around the room. Sitting in the center of the room was a long and sleek object. Black, and curved like it was supposed to fit in a hand. A big glowing button was placed on the top of the device.

"Huh, there's something you don't see everyday."

BeastBoy moved in behind me, looked at the contraption and gasped. "Holy crap! Control Freak's remote!"

"Control Freak? Who the hell is that?"

Starfire answered my question. "He is a nefarious potatoer of the couch who uses creatures of the television to carry out his evil deeds. He is able to bring them to life with his reality bending remote of control. These larger versions are capable of transporting a person to the realm of airwaves."

I wasmore surprised by the fact that Starfire had given me a straight answer thanthe fact that I was in a room with a device that shattered the laws of physics. "Okay... does that mean that he's already done that to himself?"

"Most likely."

"How do we get him out?"

BeastBoy answered this time. "Cy can do it. I'll give him a ring." He pulled out his yellow comlink.

I yell at myself constantly for not seeing what came next. There was a tiny frail snap and a ten inch action figure of a man in green armor holding a submachine gun in one hand and a glowing fish-like thing in his right. A thin trail of string was tied to his waist. The figure landed on the big red button and there was a painfully bright flash of light.

* * *

Robin finished downing the last of the inmates with a quick stab of his staff. All around him were unconscious and badly beaten men. He had a tiny cut on his face from a piece of shattering concrete. It was his only real injury.

He shouted "Status report!"

"Cyborg's none the worse for wear." Said Cyborg as his arm shifted back to hand mode.

"I'm fine." Said Raven with alot more venom than she would have liked. Her leotard was ripped at the shoulder from a prisoner grabbing at her, and unfortunately her right breast showed because of it. I have endless amounts of pity for that poor man. She was tying off the scraps of the leotard with telekinesis.

"Good. Get these prisoners back in their cells. When your done contact the police and tell them to storm the place. This is a mass prison break, not a concentrated incident."

"What are you gonna do?"

He held up his communciator. "Contact Star, we need to regroup."

He flipped open the device. "Starfire, do you read me. We need you to lead your group over to the C-block. Over." All he got was static in response. "Hmm, must be too much interference. Fine, I'll just have to go to her." With a few quick taps on the device he had the tracking screen up.

Since my communicator was destroyed and BeastBoy's tracker was turned off, all he saw was the flashingblip marked STARFIRE blink once and then disappear like it was never there.

Robin's eyemask widened and he shouted "Team, we've got three members down in the-" He tapped the screen and a label came up that designated it as the basement of the Zeta Block. "-basement of the Zeta Block. MOVE!"

Cyborg nodded and started to run, but stopped. "No can do, we got trouble."

A huge surgeof inmatesrounded the corner, all armed with the guard's sidearms and more prison weapons. They spotted the group and rushed forward. The three Titans assumed combat stances.

A few seconds before the wave hit him, Robin quietly whispered "Starfire, where are you?"

* * *

I woke up, shaking my head. It felt like I had a hangover that I tried to cure by punching myself in the temple. Starfire and BeastBoy layed nearby, groggily rising to their feet as well.

"Where the fuck are we?"


	35. Rated M for Mature

It was an alley, just like any other alleyway really. The walls were made of sun drenched yellowed granite and a half melted metal trash can was in front of me. That was the only odd thing about my situation. Across the street in front of me was a sharp drop into an ocean.

"Hey, wake up you two." And I lightly nudged both of my companions with my foot. They groaned in response. "C'mon, stand up, it helps with the headache." It really didn't, I just wanted them on their feet.

Starfire stood up, rubbing the top of her head. "Where are we?"

"I got nothing. Is this Jump City, in some sort of yellow granite district."

"I do not believe that we are in the city, the sun is in a different position than when we left." I looked up and sure enough it was. I had missed that detail.

"Dudes, didn't you notice. Control Freak's remote zapped us to some movie or TV show." BeastBoy stood up, lost his balance and stumbled to the stone wall. "Whoa, sorry, and I've got a pretty good idea which-" and he stopped.

I had been checking my firearms while he spoke, so I didn't notice the look on his face. Starfire did however. "BeastBoy, what is the matter?"

I turned and saw a look of complete and total horror plastered on his face. I swear he got greener.

I followed his line of sight and saw he was looking behind the melted trashcan from his sideways viewpoint. I whipped out my mossberg and hopped on the ruined trashcan, pointing down behind the can with it.

It was a body, and a confusing body at that. He was covered in burns, but none of them were severe. Maybe just really painful first degree burns, like if you brushed up against some hot metal. Strangely enough whatever had cooked this guy had been hot enough to melt the trash can and blacken the rock around him.

The smell of charred flesh was almost gone, and no rot had taken hold yet. There weren't even flies here yet. I placed his time of death to be between thirty minutes and an hour. Lot's of experience with corpses had finally paid off.

I turned back at BeastBoy and Starfire. "I think we can assume that this world is violent. Starfire, your the senior Titan here, what do we do?"

She pondered this for a moment, placing the tip of her finger on her mouth and looking up in thought. "Um, Robin would tell us to fan out and search."

"Alright." I dashed out into the street, Starfire close behind me. BeastBoy hesitated where he was for a minute before he turned into a hawk and flew straight up..

We didn't have to go far to find something. In the middle of the street were obvious signs of a battle. A big jeep was flipped onto it's side and still on fire, leaning against the guardrail of the water. A streetlight was smashed to bits against a building. Almost the entirety of the street was covered in black burns.

There were bodies laying about, but I couldn't get an actual number until I searched. These guys had burns far worse than the other guy. Each one had at least second degree burns. Enough scorch marks to actually kill a man.

I told Starfire to stay put andmoved forward to investigate the scene. Nearest I could tell there were ten different bodies. I flipped one that had his back burned pretty much off over and saw that he had a military uniform on, but from what branch I couldn't tell. He had a few medals on his shirt and a pair of dog tags. The tags read 'Benjamin Krivanos' I ripped them off and shoved them in my pocket.

In Ben's hand was an odd gun. I narrowed my gaze and pried his fingers off of it.

It looked like a side loading automatic with an extendablearm brace and a thumb grip. There was a second handle further down the stock to control automatic fire. It was sleek and heavy. A good gun.

BeastBoy touched down next to me and morphed back into an elf. He gave me a bewildered look.

"What's up BeastBoy."

"I recognize that gun."

"How, not even I recognize this thing."

"That's the M7 caseless Submachine gun. Oh man, I just figured it out."

"What?"

"We're not in a TV show, or even a movie. Control Freak zapped us into a video game!"

"THAT'S RIGHT TITANS!"

A giant purple vehicle that hovered a foot and a half off the ground tore out of the alleyway we had just come out of. A hatch opened up and a grossly obese man with a red mullet poked his fat head out. He held in his hands a radio that I guess was hooked up to a speaker system in the vehicle.

"But not just any video game grunts. You've been transported into a terrifying and gritty future, where the only thing you have to look forward to is death at the hands of armies of zealous aliens. Where all you have to survive with are your wits. Yes, truly you have been brought to the greatest first person shooter ever!"

"Doom III?"

Control Freak looked pissed "NO you flood baby, HALO 2! The most in depth and thrilling video game ever. I couldn't beat youwith movies, I couldn't beat you with the magic of television, but here, you'll die like noobs on legendary. So long Titans!"

The hatch closed and the vehicle started to hover backwards. I lunged at the thing, intent on ripping off that hatch and then beating the fat man into one giant bruise. Then the tank started hurling electrified bolts of plasma at me from turrets mounted on it's fins.

I didn't remember it being able to do that, so I backed off. Starfire flew up high and peppered the thing with green bolts. Control Freak swerved his tank and fired more plasma bolts at the alien, coming remarkably close to hitting her. BeastBoy saw his chance and darted in as a cheetah, sliding under the thing and morphing into an elephant.

The sudden rise flipped over the Wraith, yeah that's it's name. I could hear Control Freak shouting what sounded like "A button" over and over again. Then jets of blue flame shot out of the back of the thing and it shot forward, flipping over on the curb.

It was my turn. I darted forward, claw out and shield charged. I deflected a flurry of plasma bolts and hopped atop the behemoth and drove my claw into the hull once, then twice, then a third time. I was tearing myself a nice little hole.

It belched forth a ball of plasma as big as a minivan from a turret on the back of it. I was so close that the heat blistered my skin and fried my hair. I gasped in pain and collapsed onto the frame of the tank.

Control Freak did that boost thing again and I tumbled over the rear of the thing and thudded on the concrete with a loud oof. The plasma bomb blew BeastBoy back like he was a house of cards. Starfire was well out of the blast radius however. Her eyes glowed bright green and she shot forth twin beams of emerald that tore a great rent in the Wraith's armor. This did little to deter it however.

The fat man turned the turrets back on Starfire while slowly backing up.

I couldn't see what happened next because my vision was obscured by the bulk of the tank that I was still laying behind, and it was backpedaling towards me. The only thing I could do was mutter "Fuck" before it overtook me.

It was a curious feeling, being under the tank. Rather than a crushing death feeling, it was more like a fat child was standing on every inch of my body, which is a feeling I can deal with.

I looked at the underside of the monstrocity, and smirked. I saw wires, tubes, containers, in general, mechanical stuff. Stuff that could be broken.

I wryly thought to myself "_So, the beast has a soft underbelly._". I clung to the underside and went to work.

The tank continued it's trip, shooting at Starfire as a trail of destroyed parts formed in it's wake. BeastBoy was just at that point recovering from his flight.

The tank suddenly stopped firing, and then slowed. Starfire stopped shooting at this point, puzzled. A stream of smoke poured from the tank's back and it started to violently shake. Only when a piece that vaguely looked like an engine fell out did the thing finally stop moving. Starfire touched down and looked at the machine quizzically. BeastBoy came up behind her.

The hatch slidopen and the two of us flew out of the Wraith and landed next to the two Titans. I had tunneled through the mass of the tank to the cockpit, right under Control Freak's butt.

I healed my cuts and spat out some of what passes for motor oil around here. It tasted like cotton candy and Windex. Ignoring the burning in my mouth I said "Alright fatass, get us out of your fantasy realm."

He smiled widely and sat up. "Nuh uh, no way Titans. Not until you see all that my world has to offer. The realm of digital entertainment is a beautiful place to those who know what to look for. And to those who don't, well, you've figured that out already haven't you?"

"Stop talking in circles!" I grabbed his collar and shook him violently. "Just tell us how we get out of here."

BeastBoy piped up. "His remote, we need his remote to get out of here."

I patted down Control Freak, quickly finding the remote in his pocket. It looked like a minature version of what brought us here. I moved like I was going to pass it to BeastBoy, thought about my decision, then gave it to Starfire. BeatBoy pouted.

Starfire fiddled with the thing for a few seconds before it made a sound that resembled a loud fart and shut off. She looked at the thing like it bit her.

"Ahh, you found my security system. Good luck getting through it Titans, only I know the code. Don't worry, once I'm done here I'll leave, and when I do you'll automatically come with me. Or, what's left of you anyway! Haha, HAHAHA- GAH!"

Control Freak suddenly stopped his loud, raucous laughter because five inches of polished gun barrel was jammed in his mouth. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "Get us out now, or you'll have yet another hole to shovel food into."

He twitched, and I heard a faint click from his pocket. I pulled the gun out of his mouth and pistol whipped him like the bitch he was. He was out like a light. BeastBoy and Starfire looked horrified.

"What?" As I set down his limp frame and fished a device from his pocket.

It was a plain disc of metal with a flashing, faintly beeping light on it.

"What the hell is this."

Starfire leaned in, looking at the device curiously. "Hmm, it reminds me of the tracker that is installed in our clothes."

"So this thing is signaling something?"

"It is a possibility."

"Uh, dudes..." The green boy poked me.

"Quiet BeastBoy. Is there any way we can read the signal. Follow it back to whatever it is he's contacting."

"I believe that such a function is built into our communicators."

"Dudes..." BeastBoy started to pull on my sleeve.

"Knock it off BeastBoy. Well how do we access that-"

BeastBoy near shouted in my ear "DUDES!"

"WHAT?" I shouted back. BeastBoy was pointing off to the side, down the street. I looked.

They looked weird at best. Seven feet tall if they were stretched out, only six and a half hunched over like they were. Giant hooves for feet at the end of long, strong looking legs. Their faces were hunched over with a gaping mouth andfour spiked tentacles leading out of it. All seven of them were totally covered in blue, red, and white armor, even the mouth tentacles. Fourteen beady eyes scowled at me while mouth tentacles slightly twitched.

"Holy crap, their Elites..."

Starfire quietly whispered. "BeastBoy, do you know these beings?"

"Yeah."

"Are they friendly?"

It was at that point that I became aware of the glowing purple items in each of their hands, except for the white one who carried a thin bar of metal. He flicked it and a blade entirely comprised of energy flashed into being.

BeastBoy answered "No..."

Rolling waves of plasma poured at us.


	36. Difficulty setting: Easy

I danced back, flailing my shield in front of me to deflect the flurry of plasma bolts. The ground in front of me glowed from heat impacts.

BeastBoy charged forward as a thickly armored anklyosaur, shrugging off plasma charges like hurled socks. He smashed into the mass of elites, scattering them like bowling pins. All, however, where protected by bright flaring shields

The white armored one with the glowing blade stabbed into BeastBoy's leg, eliciting a pained groan from the dinosaur. BeastBoy fell to the ground and morphed back, clutching his leg. The elite raised his sword to finish him...

...and the blade was knocked out of his hand by a well aimed starbolt. He turned his tentacled face to look at what hit it, and a flurry of blasts splashed over his shield. He shouted in his alien language and fell back.

I took my chance. I ran forward pistols held straight out, firing repeatedly. Each of my shots however only caused a flare of shield, and drew their fire back on me. I dodged furiously, but I was still hit in the left arm.

It was at this point that I figured out how that soldier died from his burns. On the surface they were only superficial scorches, but the heat penetrated. It only gave you first degree burns, but it gave you burns all the way to the bone. My muscles were toasted and my blood cauterized in my veins. Thankfully it was very localized, the surface burn was large but the inner burn was slightly smaller than a bullet.

I clutched my burned arm and set myself to regenerating. While I did that I rushed forward with my claw.

One of the red armored ones had his back to me, big mistake. I kicked his shield, causing it to wink out of existence and followed it up with a fist to the spine, assuming these things were vertabrates. He fell down so I think they are.

BeastBoy was back up and violently assaulting the remaining elites as a triceratops. The elites were shooting him up good, to no real effect, his hide was just too thick.

Starfire was facing off with the white armored one, who I assumed was the leader. He had gotten back his sword, and was wielding it along side a plasma gun. Starfire kept punching and blocking with starbolt-charged fists, but she was at a disadvantage.

I decided to help out. I broke into a crouched sprint, claw out and shield charged. I reared back my hand to slash, but this guy was leader for a reason. He saw me coming at the last possible second and rolled low, coming up between my legs, and punching at my chest with his sword.

He made contact, sliding his glowing blade through my torso all the way to the hilt. I flew up into the air from the impact, almost passing out from the pain. Almost.

Before I had even slid off the swordI tore my shotgun out from the holster with my left hand and pressed forward, planting it against the back of his neck. I pulled the trigger and was blown back by the explosion.His shield winked out from my assault.

Starfire blasted him back with an optic blast that sent him careening into one of the street lights next to the street, denting it at an odd angle.

As soon as it was able my gun started belching out explosive shells at the remaining elites. Two more fell to my gun before it clicked dry, and three to Starfire's bolts. We would have beat up more, but we ran out.

I reloaded my shotgun and called out "Everyone okay?" as I looked at yet another hole in my coat.

"I am none the wear for the worse" said Starfire in her cheery, perky tone.

"It's none the worse for wear Starfire, how about you BeastBoy?"

"DUDE, THIS IS SO AWESOME!"

This took me aback. "What?"

"This dudes, we're in Halo!"He shouted, arms wide gesturing at everything around us."We just kicked the crap out of a bunch of elites, do you know how cool that is! Oh man, Cy's going to be so jealous." He said with a devious smirk.

"Well, I"m glad your excited BeastBoy, but we still need to find a way out of here."

"Yeah I know but, man is this sweet!"

"Now answer my question. Are you hurt?"

"Nah, just a scratch."

"But I saw you get stabbed."

"My wounds translate by size, that stab wound is just a tiny little pin prick now, see." He rolled up his pants and showed the tiny red dots that were a vicious stab wound just a little while ago.

"...Cool."

Starfire touched down next to us. "Friends we must make haste. I believe more foes are almost upon-"

An enormous shiny purple craft rose up suddenly tore over the building tops with a warbling roar. It tilted itself at a sharp angle and leveled itself at us.

"-us" Starfire quietly finished.

"Everyone stay perfectly still, maybe it can only see movement." BeastBoy quickly said, and for some reason we all listened.

a moment.

It leveled three turrets and began pouring bolts of flaming plasma at us.

"DAMMIT BEASTBOY, THAT WAS A MOVIE NOT A VIDEO GAME!" as I bolted for cover.

"Hey, it was worth a shot!" he shouted before he morphed into a falcon and soared out of it's firing arc.

"No it wasn't you filthy buzzard!" I dove and rolled behind the ruined hulk of the jeep, closely followed by a stream of plasma from one of it's turrets that then began to blacken and scorch my cover.

I poked my head up and fired off a few shot from my Glocks. I might as well of attacked a tank with a stick. Starfire was having slightly more effect, actually damaging a purple plate with a stream of eye laser while hovering just out of the arc of it's turret.

Unfortunately that meant that all three turrets were aimed at me. I could feel the heat start to build up in the jeep, soon I would be hiding behind a pile of melted slag and the thing would have a clear line on me.

It was at that point that BeastBoy saved my life. He fluttered above the vehicle -phantom, that's what it's called- as a pigeon, and then morphed into a mammoth, right on the thing's nose end. It pitched forward, actually making contact with the ground and snapping off one of the turrets in a spray of sparks. BeastBoy slid off and morphed back into a pigeon and darted away.

The phantom righted itself, the bright white thruster on it's underside flared bright, and it spun, more of a barrel roll really.

The gunners were damn good, each of them actually getting off a shot a Starfire while it was flipped. She dodged, but got clipped nonetheless. She fell to the ground like a sack of bricks.

As soon as the Phantom recovered from it's flip, something fell out of it's engine thruster, a red armor clad elite. I then realized that the Phantom wasn't an assault vehicle, it was a troop transport.

The red elite was only the tip of the iceberg. Hordes of... things started tumbling out of the shaft of light that I had mistakenly thought was a thruster. There were elites, and other things. Little trolls with pointed back packs I heard BeastBoy call Grunts, and little dinosaur monsters with bright energy shields called Jackals. It was kinda creepy.

The lead elites made a bee line for Control Freak's unconscious form. Oh shit, I forgot about Control Freak, that fat dirty bastard. I jumped over the half melted jeep and dashed for Control Freak. By the time I got there Control Freak was surrounded.

I blind sided one of the elites, snapping his neck with a powerful jump kick. I lashed out with my claw and caught another just below the eye, downing him as well. I was only on the ground long enough to kick off and slam into another one. I had killed three of them in as many seconds.

At this point, I didn't care about taking lives. My nerves were on edge, and I was really pissed off. And fuck if I was going to let my only ticket home get carted away by his tentacle faced butt-buddies.

One opened fire on me. I weaved between the shots and ran up to him, I grabbed the mouth of his plasma rifle and crushed it, and before he could react I plunged my claw into his face. A spray of fire from my left. Without looking I whirled, using the Elite's corpse as a shield. Plasma impacted his frame like rain as I ran for more solid cover.

Suddenly a shaft of light erupted out of his side, missing me by scant millimeters. I peeked over my shield's shoulder and saw a jackal with a curious looking rifle pointed at me. He fired again and a long beam of light shot from it, this one only burrowed a quarter sized hole in my coat tail.

A large number of sudden explosions went off in the Covenant ranks, as dozens of green bombs exploded around them, one taking out the sniper-Jackal. I looked up and saw Starfire machine-gunning starbolts.

Several Elites worked themselves together and started a concentration of fire on the artillery alien, but they hadn't fired for more than a second before they were scattered by a Velociraptor in their ranks.

I flicked my eyes to my right, and saw a pair of Phantoms moving in over the water. It was at this point that I also saw the giant cruiser floating about a mile and a half away that was obscured by clouds before. I gaped at it for only a second, but a second too long.

I saw movement off my right, and instinctively whirled my shield around to protect myself. I blocked a projectile and shot with my Glock, nailing a Grunt right between the eyes. Little bastard snuck around.

There was a light coming from my right, I looked down and saw a bluish-white thing attached to my shield. It was steadily growing brighter.

All I could was half mouth an obscenity before I knew no more.


	37. Difficulty setting: Normal

Blurs...

Blurs and murmurs...

And the pain.

Lots and lots of pain.

I let out a low groan with a voice made hoarse by fire.

The first words I made out was "Hey, he's waking up."

"Glorious."

"Not glorious, Starfire hit me over the head a few more times. I think I need a few more hours of unconsciousness."

"Um, I do not want to strike one of my friends into the sleep, but if that is what you desire..." My vision focused just in time to see her rearing back a fist.

"No, I was kidding Starfire!" I threw up my hands in defense, and winced in pain.

I inspected myself at this point. My shield was angled away from me at the blast, so all I got was the dregs of it. That's probably what saved me. All in all, I wasn't that bad, my arm was scorched with first degree burns, and so was most of my torso. I saw the tattered remains of my coat thrown into the corner. My shirt was gone, but my pants were virtually untouched. It's the little things that make you happy.

I groaned "What the hell happened?"

BeastBoy answered, "After you went down, we ran away. We found this little apartment to hide in."

"Alright, I got some things I need to say. First off, back there, right before I went down, I saw you two take down some people, hard. As in killing them."

The two of them looked down, like they were ashamed. Starfire whimpered "Y-yes."

"Good, we'll need more of that if we're going to get out of here."

They jolted "What?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "This is a digital realm, these aren't actual beings. This is nothing more than a really advanced virtual reality machine. These aren't thugs on the street, or supervillains or anything like that, they're false constructs. It's like a video game, once we're out we can just hit reset and they'll all be back. Do you understand?"

BeastBoy said "I guess so." Starfire simply nodded.

"Excellent, now where's Control Freak?"

"We didn't get him."

"Where's my stuff?"

"We, didn't get it."

"How long has it been?"

"About three hours."

"And I haven't healed yet, damn. Bring me my coat, I hope my canteen survived."

BeastBoy brought over the tattered covering, and I rooted through it for a small metal canteen about the size of a soda bottle. I opened it up and mixed it witha separate bottle of water.

"What's that?"

"Sort of like a super protein shake, but throw in about three dozen other minerals and vitamins." I took a swig and set myself to healing, immediately drawing on the resources provided by my slurry.

Within a few seconds I was standing, and I slowly hobbled over to the sink set into the wall and took a good long drink, rinsing the soot from my face and slicking back the scorched mass of hair that was left on my scalp.

I slowly began to regenerate all of my injuries to prevent scarring. "So what do we do now?"

I got no response. "Yo, Starfire!"

She jolted from her reverie and looked up at me "Hmm?"

"What do we do next?"

"Oh, I hadn't really thought about it..."

"Well take your time, it's not like our lives are on the line here. I wonder if these people have any food?" I opened the nearby refrigerator, pulling out a small tray of ham I saw within.

"BeastBoy, you were scouting out while Reaver was asleep were you not?"

"Yeah I was."

"Very good, what did you find?"

"This place is crawling with Covies, I-"

"Covies?" I interrupted through a mouthful of undercookedham.

"Yeah, that's what they called them in the game."

I shook my head "Never mind, go on."

BeastBoy gave a sideways look before continuing "I saw at least ten patrols, each one with about three Elites, ten Grunts, and five Jackals. Two or three groups even had a pair of Hunters."

"Where were they?" BeastBoy morphed into a raptor and scratched a crude drawing on the ground. Even through the quality of the scratchings, I could see what they were doing, and it made my eyes widen.

I dashed over and yanked myself into my ruined coat. "C'mon, we have to go now!"

"What is the matter Reaver?" BeastBoy changed back "Dude, what's up?"

"Can't you guys see? From their movements, their converging here!" Then there was a thunderously loud crash and a powerful shaking throughout the building.

"What the hell was that?"

BeastBoy responded, "I think it was a Wraith blast!" Then there was another one, and I could see the flare of plasma on the outside wall through the window.

"Crap, they even know which room we're in, how the hell..."

"We must make haste to escape!" Starfire almost darted out of the open window before I caught her arm.

"No don't, look." I held up my piece of ham momentarily to the open window, and a beam of light lanced in and scorched a quarter sized hole through it, and part of the opposite wall. I pulled my hand back, "Snipers, there's no way they wouldn't set up a decent covering fire if they knew exactly where we were." I took a bite out of my now cooked food.

"We are trapped!" Starfire cried out.

"Not necessarily, if we can get to the ground floor, we should be able to slip away." There was another titanic explosion, "Assuming they don't get lucky and land one of those shot in here."

Then there was another explosion, except this one was in the apartment. The door flew off of it's hinges, and it was closely followed by a spray of plasma.

I snatched the door out of the air and held it horizontal, forming a nice cover for the three of us. I ducked down.

"Shit! Starfire give me some cover! BeastBoy, back me up!" She nodded and propped herself up, firing off a green beam of energy, and BeastBoy morphed into a snake and slithered away.I flipped myself up and over the table.

The covenant were falling back and taking cover around the door jam, except for one. A remarkably brave grunt stood in the door, holding a familiar glowing blue device...

"Not this time asshole." He flung the thing right at me, and I was ready for it.

I tore off of my coat and whipped it around me, catching it on the explosive, and then I hurled the coat out into the hallway.

The look of surprise on the Grunt's face was priceless.

It detonated in a violent burst of blue plasma that fried the contents of the hallway, I heard the agonized cries of dying Grunts and the braying squels of Jackals but... no sounds of dying Elites.

One rounded the corner, a blue,and sprayed white plasma at me. I slid back and forth, not giving any ground but not getting hit either. Green laser impacted his shield and he backed off with a growl, but not before sending another volley my way. I easily dodged this one as well, I turned around...

... just in time to see a pulse slamright into Starfire's forehead and knock her down with a slight "oof".

That got my blood boiling, I ran forward, crouched low so as to stay under the window.

One of the Elites, however, came to me. All of a sudden my vision was filled with an ugly alien, damn he was fast.

He dove at me, grabbed onto my shoulders, flipped over me, and threw me by my shoulder joints when he touched down on the ground, all within about two seconds time. I soared across the room, narrowly avoiding two sudden beam rifle shots as I flew past the window, and slammed into the far wall, back first, with a loud cry.

The gold-armored Elite would have rushed at me while I was prone, but he was knocked aside by a charging rhino. BeastBoy crashed into the far wall, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. I groggily rolled to my feet.

More Elites charged through the open doorway, three blues and a red. I dove for cover behind the upturned table, a stream of shot hot on my heels.

I pressed my back to the table and instinctively reached for where my Glock was kept, but it was ong gone. I could barely hear myself think over the din of plasma shots.

Next to me Starfire stirred and sat up. She rubbed the mark on her forehead where the plasma had hit her, "Owie."

"You alright?"

"I believe so. Is it noticeable?" She said, referring to the mark.

I looked at it and saw that all that was there was a tiny little red mark, like she had a cigarette ash fall on her head or she was touched by a drop of scalding water. Tamaranian heat resistance, gotta love it.

"Naw, not at all. BeastBoy's in the next room fighting a guy in gold, but we have our hands full here."

Another one of the blue explosives sailed over our cover and landed about a foot away from us.

"Scatter!" and we did.

Starfire soared up and out of the radius of the explosion, firing a volley of Starbolts as she went, forcing them onto the defensive and taking down the one with the Beam rifle.

I flipped over the scorched table and used it to protect me from the blast, at the same time frantically ducking out of the way of the numerous shot that were sent my way, but nevertheless I was slammed in the leg by what looked like a green laser shot from a rifle. I fell with a cry, clutching at my ruined kneecap as they sighted in...

Starfire zoomed in, slamming the man in the face with a starbolt charged fist that shattered his face. He fell to the ground with a wet gurgle.

The red one whirled on her holding an odd device that had purple spikes poking out of the top of it. It blasted a near constant stream of sharp projectiles at her frame.

I soared in and slashed before more than five shots had left the barrel, his gun fell to the ground in two separate places. I whirled around and slammed him across the face as hard as I could with my left hand, his shield flared brightly but stayed up.

Starfire narrowly twisted out of the way of the needles, which opened her up to the over hand chop of the one dual wielding plasma rifles. He slammed her in the shoulder with his rifle, knocking her prone. He punched again with his left, using his rifle like an exaggerated pair of brass knuckles.

Starfire rolled to the side and kipped up, soared up the ceiling, and kicked off, rocketing down at her opponent like a green comet. He futilely raised his weapons to block, she struck him so hard she and what was left of his body tore through the floor.

I back handed the red bastard with my claw, and swung my now healed leg in a hail mary arc. He got hit by the back hand, but reached up and caught my foot by the ankle.

"Shit."

He whirled around, with me in tow, and hurled me down at the ground. That was happening alot lately...

He dove on top of me, holding his ruined needle-gun. He swung it down, pointy side first, and buried dozens of needle into my chest.

"Ahh, you sonova- AAUUGGH!" I screamed loudly as he twisted it violently, a look of sick joy on his face.

I grit my teeth and slashed at his face. I didn't hurt him, but his shield winked out. The red Elite roared loudly and pitched to the side, dragging me with him. We rolled for a bit, and stopped right underneath the window.

I was in a compromising position. He was sitting on me in such a way that my legs were restrained, and I was using all of my strength to push against the needles in my chest. He was bracing himself off of the window sill, pushing as hard as he could down on me. If I relented for even a second, his needles would plunge through my heart, and I would die, but if I did nothing my lungs would fill with blood and I would falter.

My thoughts were roughly_"Shitshitfuckshitshitfuckfuckshit, wait... I got it!_

I jolted myself up, arcing my body and I held it for only a second. For a momenta beam of sunlight shone on the Elite's face from the open window, then a beam of plasma tore through his face. He slumped off of me with a heavy thud.

I got the idea from when I soared by the windows earlier and the snipers had fired shots at me. There was no way those snipers could have gotten a bead on me, so that meant they were shooting at movement, and one of them had seen movement through the window, which happened to be an Elite's head.

Starfire crawled out of the hole she tore in the ground, and looked around warily.

I didn't take the time to greet her. I ran into the next room yanking the needler out of my chest as I went, frantically looking for BeastBoy.

I found him pretty quick, he was standing in the doorway to what looked like a bed room holding a plate of metal. He looked none the worse for wear.

"Yo BeastBoy! Where's the gold asshole?"

BeastBoy kicked the ground "He got away, but not before I yanked this off, it was awesome." BeastBoy held up what I identified as his golden chest plate.

"Nice, are you hurt?"

"Naw, but dude, look at what I found." BeastBoy walked back into the bedroom and reached into a closet.

From it he drew a long black trenchcoat that was roughly my size. "Y'know, so you don't get cold."

I grabbed it and looked it over. "Sweet, thanks BeastBoy." I slipped it on over my naked torso, but stopped when I got an idea. "Hey, give me that plate."

"Why?"

"I got an idea." BeastBoy nervously handed me the plate.

I snapped out my claw and cut a narrow slice through the end of of it, then another on the other end. I then took the belt off of the trench coat and slipped it through, forming a comfortable handle. Within about a minute of work I had made a make shift buckler for myself. I grinned as a thin film of blue energy spread itself over my new shield.

Starfire burst into the room, "More are coming!"

I tightened the strap on my arm, "Then let's roll."


	38. Difficulty setting: Heroic

"Starfire, we got more Phantoms coming in!"

No response.

"STARFIRE!"

Still no response.

"Mother fucker." I run down a narrow alleyway, green plasma shots peppering the concrete around me and scorching the tails of my coat. I lunge up and kick offthe side of alleyway, landing heavily on the roof of the building. I have a moment to observe the battle.

Starfire is still darting around like a green-streaking fly, dodging the streams of plasma pouring from the front of four banshees. I could vaguely hear a powerful dinosaur roar. That meant BeastBoy was still dealing with the ground troops. Behind me, off in the distance, three more Phantoms were bearing down on us.

That was all I had a chance to look at as a flight of drones-small,flying, green insects thatmoved in packs-flew up over the roof top, their plasma pistols glowing with a green light. They bunched up in the narrow alleyway trying to get to me, perfect.

I reached into my coat and pulled out a small orb, flicking a small switch on it. Immediately it began to give off a smoky, blue glow. I flicked it and it attached itself to the face of one very unfortunate drone. He dropped his gun and started flailing around, actually making it four steps closer to his friends before it exploded, killing almost all of them.

A random plasma pistol flew overhead, propelled by the force of the explosion, and with a quick hop, I plucked it out of midair and picked off the two remaining drones.

"Well... that was easy." I ran forward and bound upwards, making my way back towards the fight.

Starfire swooped low, moving in a corkscrew around the three streams of hot plasma. She twisted herself and spun, using that momentum to hurl a starbolt at the backside of a banshee, however her angle was bad and all she did was blow off it's left wing, the item soaring down the street.

Said wing landed just in front of BeastBoy as he moused himself out of the way of a beam rifle shot. Another shot was close behind it, narrowly avoiding BeastBoy's tiny form. The green rodent scurried beneath a parked car.

The red Elite armed with the beam rifle nodded his head towards the car, and the two blue elites flanking him slowly marched towards it.

They didn't even make it halfway before the car was rocketed upwards from the sudden growth of a Tyrannosaurus. The two blue elites opened fire, but to no effect. BeastBoy whipped his tail around and slapped them away with one stroke.

The red one sighted in his rifle, getting a perfect bead on the green beast's eye. He slowly began to squeeze the trigger...

...and the flaming hulk of the flung car fell on top of him.

BeastBoy morphed back and looked at his handiwork. He spied the broken wing and absent-mindedly picked it up, looking it over. He stared up at the aerial battle and morphed into a pteradactyl to help Starfire.

Starfire ducked low into an alley, out of the arc of two firing banshees. The remaining two, including the one that was now missing a wing, (A missing wing that didn't seem to affect it in the least.) wheeled around and boosted after her as she rocketed through the street.

The banshees were holding down their overboost switches, but that only let them match Starfire's speed. One of the banshees pulled up and away, soaring over the roof tops.

Starfire rocketed around a corner and whipped herself around, eye glowing a fierce green. She hurled two bolts before the pursuing banshee had even rounded the corner.

The first one smashed into it's front as it turnedaround the walland actually knocked it back, the second slammed it's underside, causing it to erupt into a violent blue explosion. Starfire smiled vaguely at her accomplishment.

A sudden green explosion went off a few scant feet from her, a sudden concussion wave blasting her to the ground as it started to rain bolts of plasma.

The second banshee began it's attack run, pinning Starfire down under a press of plasma and fuel rod shots.

Starfire wasted no time, rocketing back upwards faster than she had fallen. She weaved in between the various energy blasts with practiced ease, her hands in front of her in a perfect Superman pose.

Halfway through her trip the banshee ceased firing and activated it's thrusters, flying at Starfire in a high stakes game of chicken. Inside, the Elite let out an alien chuckle.

Starfire grit her teeth and summoned a starbolt to her hand, rearing back her fist to swing.

"RRRRAAAAAUUUGGGHH!" As Starfire smote the front of the craft, crumpling the alien metal with a tortured groan and a spray of electric sparks. The vehicle went flying back like it had been hit by a wrecking ball, leaving a long trail of smoke as it traveled to the ground. Starfire shook her hand, lightly blowing on it and making slight "ow" noises.

Starfire looked over just in time to see BeastBoy, as a pteradactyl, latch himself onto the back of another banshee and yank, pulling out a very surprised Elite and dropping him to the ground. Starfire smiled and waved, crying out "BeastBoy over here!"

BeastBoy looked over, and sawthe last banshee pulling up slowly behind Starfire. He morphed into a parrot and squaked "Star, behind you!"

"Huh? EEP!" She jumped back as she suddenly noticed it. A green fuel rod lanced out from the front of it...

...and missed her by a hair because at that moment I slammed into the side of the vehicle, fouling it's aim. I latched on with my claw, pulling on it's wing and forcing it into a downward spiral.

I flipped up onto the top and grabbed the flip-top portion that formed the cock pit and pulled. It came up easy and inside I saw the pilot, a red Elite. He whipped around a plasma rifle, which I slapped out of his hand easily. I grabbed his wrist and he pulled back, trying to get his other hand so he could take back control of the craft, but I held his hand in place..

I put a small round orb in his hand and smiled at him, then I primed the plasma grenade and let go of his hand. He kept pulling back after I let go, so he gave himself an open hand slap in the face with a lit plasma grenade. The end result; he had his face and hand stuck to the same plasma grenade. I grabbed the back of his neck and threw his screaming body off of the craft easily.

I took the time to watch him fall away until the grenade went off. The explosion set off the plasma grenades he himself was carrying. The blast was so hot it almost fully vaporized him, only a few scant pieces falling to the ground.

I landed heavily on the solid ground a few moments later, my two teammates close behind.

We had been in a running battle for two hours after we escaped the apartment complex. Just then we had taken down the last of what seemed like the millionth wave of attackers.

We were all beat. Starfire moved with a noticeable lethargy and was pock marked with tiny red burns from lucky shots. There were more than a few tears in her clothes, but nothing huge. BeastBoy was covered in dozens of small wounds that had translated down when he transformed, the worst of which was a wound above his right eye from an errant needler round when he was an octopus. We had bangaged it with a torn section of my coat. He seemed constantly out of breath and panted like a dog half the time. Despite the injuries and fatigue, the both of them had soldiered on, keeping it up despite everything. They were beat, but not beaten.

I wished I could have shared their vitality. I didn't have any injuries but I was tired as hell. The alarm back at thetowerhad gone off just as I was nodding off for a much needed nap, and all the exertion hadn't helped things. That, and I was starving. Not starving as in 'I'm really hungry' or 'I haven't eaten anything all day', I was actually physically starving. I had regenerated too many wounds, and I was running out of material to rebuild myself with. I didn't dare take away the nutrients to re-energize myself. I put on a brave face and tried to get through it.

Starfire landed next to me "Reaver, thank you for the timely assistance."

"Don't mention it. We need to get moving again, we got two more Phantoms coming from inland, must have circled around."

BeastBoy morphed from his parrot form and thudded into the concrete next to me. "Dude, seriously?"

"Seriously, we got maybe three minutes."

"Awww... dammit!" this was the first time I had ever heard BeastBoy swear. "This is insane, we're not getting a single break here!"

I replied "I know it's rough BeastBoy, but we don't have a choice. Control Freak has got an entire army hunting us down like we're dogs. It's not like he has a reason to let up."

Starfire piped up "Ohh, if only we knew where he was located."

"He's gotta be on that giant ship." I pointed at the enormous craft off in the distance. "I can't think of anywhere else he would be."

"Then why are we not making haste to get there?" The redhead questioned.

"Look at it Starfire, it's gotta be at least three hundred miles away over open ocean. You might be able to make it there, but BeastBoy wouldn't and, I'm sorry, butI can't fly. I've been trying to get us to a bridge," I pointed at a far off suspension bridge maybe four miles away. "thought that maybe we could find a vehicle or something. Get out of the area of the search."

Starfire raised a dot of an eyebrow "How does your plan stop Control Freak?"

"... I didn't say it was perfect. I now see that it's not going to work, Control Freak has almost complete omnipotence here, we need to get to him and end this."

"Uh, dudes, we got company." I heard BeastBoy quietly mutter off to the side.

I whipped around and saw the three phantoms bearing down on us way ahead of schedule. Their turrets were already spinning to bear on us.

"Shit those things are fast... wait... fast. Yes, fast!" My eyes lit up with epiphany. "Guys, only destroy one for now!"

"Gladly!" as Starfire zipped up at the lead Phantom in a green blur, screaming out a cry of rage. BeastBoy was close behind her in the form of a falcon. I stepped into an alleyway and out of sight.

Before even a shot was fired from the turrets, Starfire had slammed into the nose of the craft. She dented it horribly, forming a two foot deep divot in the purple metal. The Phantom lurched backwards and down slightly.

Suddenly the engines on the back of the vehicle flared and it shot forward, pinning Starfire to the front of the craft like a fly on a windshield. She let out ascream as the Phantom hurtled at and shattered abuilding with it's dented nose in a spray of dust and concrete, in the process crushing Starfire and plowing her through the wall.

BeastBoy soared over the Phantom and morphed into a gorilla. He dropped down and hung off of one of the raised fins on the side. He grabbed the side turret and pulled, yanking off the gun in a tangle of wires and a spray of sparks. The other side turret swiveled on him, but was blasted off when BeastBoy threw the torn turret in his hands with a loud roar.

But that left the front turret to turn on BeastBoy and open fire, fire which BeastBoy narrowly morphed out of the way of.

The Phantom, now 2/3 unarmed, decided it would be best to drop off their payload and run. It drifted backwards and down, hovering just ten feet over the street.

A solid beam of glowing green shot from the hole in the building the Phantom just made. Starfire was standing on the ruined wall, blasting a beam of energy from a Starbolt that was roughly the size of a motorcycle.

The blast melted through the dent in it's nose, the circuitry beyond, the pilot, a few occupants, and then tore out of the back in a violent flash. The thing dropped down to the ground and was still.

Starfire was panting, and she dabbed at a shallow cut on her forehead that was oozing green blood. "We are... victorious?"

BeastBoy morphed back next to her. "I think so- Star, your hurt!"

"It is nothing. Where is the other craft?"

"More importantly, where's Reaver?"

* * *

The answer was the same for both questions.

Said vehicle and said awesome person moved by, the Phantom firing streams of plasma at my flitting and dancing form as I worked my way over the rooftops.

I came to a long narrow stretch of roof and stopped, assuming a defensive fighting stance. The Phantom wheeled to a halt and spun their turrets and fired. I raised my shield and braced myself. The angle was just right, and the blasts deflected off the skin of blue energy and scorched the nose of the craft. It ceased firing after that.

"_That's right, your guns can't hurt me, now c'mon, be predictable." _I silently prayed.

The shaft of light under the Phantom glowed brightly.

_"Yes!" _I ran forward as two grunts dropped out of the bottom and fired a few wild shots at me. I chanelled all of the energy I had left into increasing my speed. I moved so fast I leaked blue energy in long streaks.

I kicked off of the grunt who let out an angry squel when I did so, and leapt up into the Phantom. I felt the gravity field lighten me and help lift me, and at the same time I was blinded by the glow. Suddenly I was standing in a dimly lit craft surrounded by very surprised troops.

_"A few more than expected..." _I wryly think to myself.

I lashed out with a foot and shattered a grunt's face, at the same time I sliced off an Elite's arm at the elbow. Three grunts opened fire with charged plasma pistols, only to have the blasts return to them and knock them to the ground. A far Elite fires a short double tap with a beam rifle, I swing my arm to deflect and the first one kills his shield, the second puts a quarter sized hole in his eye socket. He falls lifelessly to the ground without a single drop of blood spilled.

One brave Elite swings his semi-automatic laser carbine at me, I roll past him and slice his spine at the waist. Three Jackals take cover behind shields and fire, but their shots slam into a pair of grunts behind me as I spin to the side, working my dodge into a swing that beheads another Elite.

A Grunt hurls a plasma grenade. In such close quarters it's stupid, half of them will be caught in the blast, but then again Grunts were never master tacticians.

I swoop low and scoop up a plasma rifle. I swat it to the side, and catch it on the hurled grenade. I scan the interior in an instant and hurl it behind mewhere it won't set off any other grenades. There's a blue flash, a very sudden change from the dark interior of the Phantom.

Several of them are flash blinded by the flare, and I down another three before they can react. A sudden pain as a charged plasma pistol shot slams my back from a laughing Jackal. I lightly hop over and slash off his muzzle and he goes down letting out a warbling scream.

A sword crackles into existence in the hands of a red Elite. He rushes at me in a wide horizontal swing. I bat it to the side with my shieldand punch him soundly in the face before shattering his elbow and wrist in a painful twisting maneuver. He drops his still activated sword. Another Elite swats at me with one of his dual needlers. I see it coming a mile away and twist around the Elite in my grasp, lining his head up with the swing. The red Elite has a dozen needles painfully stabbed into his face. There is a horrified expression on the face of the needler-Elite before I cut said face off. I whip around and swing at-

-nothing.

I calmly look around and see nothing but a very bloody room. Dead Elites lie where they fell, Grunts are stacked in the corners like discarded bags of meat, Jackals lie torn and twisted with their faces in terrible grimaces.

All that is left is a lone grunt, standing seven feet away from me with his knees shaking in fear. He's dropped his weapon and is looking at me in abject horror. I notice his eyes flicker towards the exit hatch.

I turn my glare on him, and jerk my head towards the hatch. He takes a hesitant step towards it, and I jerk my head again a little more forcefully. He breaks into a flailing run to the exit.

I kick my leg up and snag it on the handle of the sword, bring it to my hand, and throw it.

The grunt is almost to the hatch when he has two feet of plasma bury itself in his back, and he dies with a slight squek. His limp corpse falls into the hatch and out of the craft.

I quietly sighed to myself, and promptlyhyperventilated.

The entire fight had taken roughlytwenty seconds.

I was spent, I had burned just about all of my energy fighting and I could barely stand. The physical effects of starvation were starting to take place. Already I was thinner and the lines on my face must have been visible. My muscles were weak and my stomach kept on growling for nonexistant food. I felt like passing out right there.

I heard a slight whir and a door slid open near the front of the craft. Standing there was a horrified looking blue Elite.

_"Oh shit, it's the guy from the apartment, he's the pilot." _

He looked around at the grisly scene, the frightened looks of all the dead, the blue and purpleblood running in a thin river down the center of the ship towards the release hatch, the plasma scorch marks, the sprays of blood on the walls, and me, standing in the center like a blood soaked monument.

Then he said the first word I ever understood from one of these aliens "Demon..."

I turn towards him and hold up my arms in a passive gesture. "I'm guessing your not going to make this quick and surrender?"

He snaps on another energy sword with a loud battle cry. He rushes at me with profound speed, his eyes full of rage.

His guard is off, he's so blinded by anger. All it takes is one swing to tear through his shield and pierce something vital. He falls to the ground, bleeding heavily from the neck. Within a minute he's bled to death. I grabbed his sword and deactivated it.

I hobbled into the cock pit and looked over the controls, they were all marked and printed in english. Control Freak's handiwork no doubt.

I saw one that said 'fire control' and pressed it. Water started pouring out of sprinklers in the ceiling, speeding up the process of blood draining. I slid out all of the corpses over the course of a few minutes, but not before chugging about a gallon from of the sprinklers and rinsing myself off fromall the blood.

After I had cleaned up I pulled on the controls (Which were surprisingly simple.) and wheeled the Phantom around to where I had last seen my friends.

* * *

The two Grunts standing on the roof top looked on as a long series of blood, water, and corpses fell out of the Phantom they had just exited. By the time it stopped the pile measured about two grunts in height. Then the Phantom flew off as if the Grunts weren't even there.

The two looked at eachother for a moment before letting out a loud wooping scream and running towards the fire escape.

* * *

I figured out the radio on the Phantom and got on the Titan's frequency. Starfire was very surprised to hear my voice over the device. I gave her my location and they came up.

Starfire nervously flew through the hatch on the bottom of the craft, starbolts active. BeastBoy close behind her.

I slid open the door to the cock pit. "Hey guys, you-AAACCK!" As I was suddenly enveloped in one of Starfire's crushing hugs.

"Oh joyous rapture, our friend has returned! Tell me Reaver, are you well?"

"C-could... be better. Air!"

"Huh, OH!" She let go and I took a deep breath. "My apologies, Reaver."

"S'alright Starfire." as I panted heavily.

"Dude, how did you get this thing?" said BeastBoy, gesturing at the Phantom.

"I asked nicely and they said I could use it as long as I didn't scratch the paint."

"Ha ha, nice one."

"You guys hungry, they got a whole lot of food in here." I gestured at the small candy bar-like object in my hand, which I greedily took a bite out of.

"Dude! That's alien food, how do you know it's safe to eat? It could be like Star's cooking."

"First of all, this is Control Freak, do you think he would make the local food, food he probably has to eat,taste bad or kill us? And second of all, I happen to like Starfire's cooking." I tossed him and Starfire a bar.

Starfire sniffed it, licked it, and then her eyes brightened. She wolfed it down like it was the first thing she had eaten in weeks. "Delicious! Are there more?"

"Yeah, just open that panel over there." I pointed at a nearby wall panel"The green ones taste like Cheetos."

"Glorious!"

* * *

About half an hour later we were well on our way to the mother ship. The Phantom could easily move a hundred and fifty, but that was still at least a two hour ride.

I had filled up on alien food, and was actually feeling pretty good as I skimmed us over the water towards our destination. I was lightly humming a tune to myself.

My song was interrupted by a sudden yawn. I may have been almost back at full power, but I still needed sleep to function properly.

"Nnngh, Starfire should be able to figure out how to pilot this thing while I catch some Z's." I got up and slid open the door.

"Hey Starfire, you mind taking over while I-" I stopped suddenly when I saw my two companions curled up on the ground asleep. BeastBoy's legs twitched slightly, no doubt chasing something in a dream. Starfire shivered slightly and made a quiet chatter of her teeth. It was kind of cold in there, a combination of AC and the cold water I ran to clean it.

I rolled my eyes slightly and went over to another small hatch and pulled it open, sliding out a shiny purple blanket.

I laid the cover over the two of them as best I could without waking them up. Then I silently went back into the cock pit.

"God... I am such a sucker."


	39. Difficulty setting: Legendary

Robin narrowed his gaze at the monitor set in the wall of the basement. Displayed in clean and crisp High-Definition was the inside of a Phantom, wherein lay a sleeping elf and a Tamaranian. Robin shifted to look at several other monitors next to that one that displayed various other scenes in the digital environment. A pack of Elites running across a street, a pair of scared grunts scampering down a fire escape, two hulking hunters making a break for a Phantom, and in the last screen was Control Freak sitting on a throne of purple Covenant metal, laughing his fat ass off. At the moment all the TVs were muted.

"Cyborg, any luck yet?"

"Yeah man, Igot this." Cyborg was crouched over the remote that sat in the middle of the room like a giant movie prop. A long series of wires ran from his arm into a few ports on the device. "Just gotta get past this last firewall, put in the code, and... I got it! Boo-" There was a sudden surge of powerand a slight dimming of the lights. "YAAAAHH!" Cyborg went rocketing back across the room in a long arc.

"Cyborg!" Robin was next to the robot in a flash. "Are you okay?"

The metal man groaned and shifted to a sitting position, rubbin his head. "Nnngh yeah, I'm fine, nothing an overhaul won't fix."

"What happened?"

"Control Freak must have set up a contingency, something he probably learned from one of his Everquest buddies. No worries though, I should be able to get around it this time." Cyborg tried to put weight on his right arm to get up, but his hand slipped out from under him and he struck the ground face first. "GAH! The hell?" He looked at his right arm. "Awww man, it shorted out my arm!" Cyborg staggered to his feet and, sure enough, his right arm dangled uselessly from his his side.

"Can you fix it?"

"Hold on, I"m doing a damage assessment." Cyborg paused as text scrolled down his bionic eye. "Damn, my circuits have fused together. That shock must have been stronger than I thought. No, I'm sorry Robin, I can't fix it. I'll need to get a new arm."

Robin sighed "...Alright, go and get it. Get back here double time. I want them out of that machine by sundown."

"Roger Fearless Leader." Cyborg gave a half salute and walked out the door and into the rest of the prison.

Robin stared at the monitors for another solid minute before he heard a familiar wispy sound. He turned around and saw Raven stepping out of a puddle of black on the ground.

"Hey Raven, how are things up top?"

"All the guards are fine, injured, but fine, all of the prisoners are accounted for, except for Control Freak of course. He overloaded the electronic locks on the lower security doors during lunch so they wouldn't lock when the prisoners came back, and wouldn't set off any alarms. He was able to cobble all this together just today, and when he was done he was the one who pulled the alarm in Zeta Block, to get us down here."

"So all this was a trap, to lure in the Titans."

Raven crossed her arms. "It would appear so, yes."

Robin stared at the monitors for a long while before Raven spoke up again, shattering the silence "So tell me again what all this is? I asked Cyborg before but he didn't give me a real answer, just tech speak."

"It's a video game, Halo 2 to be precise. Before when we last fought Control Freak he zapped himself and us into airwaves, this time he's digitized them into a game environment. Since this runs on changeable scripts, the environment is mutable. Simply put, Control Freak is a near god in there. He can summon vehicles, weapons, troops, with barely any effort. He's even put third person cameras all over that are directly transmitting over a secure connection to a large number of Internet sites, as well as to these monitors."

"Why?"

"To taunt us. He knows that there's nothing we can do to get him out, no matter how many times we try. Cyborg could hack for a week and not get through that system. And when he's had his fun and he teleports back out here, he'll be able to find copies of it on the Internet and enjoy it again and again."

"Way to be an optimist there Robin."

Robin looked down at the ground for a moment before lashing out and slamming the wall with a fist, causing a small avalanche of cracked paint and dust. "I hate this! This feeling of uselessness, of lethargy. I have a problem and there's not a goddamn thing I can DO ABOUT IT!" Robin swung again at the wall, and then again, creating fist sized sections of cracked paint.

Raven put a calming hand on his shoulder mid swing "Robin! Calm down! It's not the wall's fault, it's not anyone's fault. There's nothing you can do right now except trust your teammates. You've trained us well, now let us do what we have to, and you just have to wait and see."

Raven floated away towards the door, but stopped before she opened it "I'm going to go and probe the minds of a few convicts. Control Freak couldn't have built this thing all by himself, and one of them has to know something." She opened the door and floated out leaving Robin alone.

* * *

I was sitting in my very uncomfortable alien chair when I heard a very loud beeping coming from my dash board that woke me up from my half sleep. I leapt out of my chair and looked over the board, fully alert. 

Alright, I fell out of my chair, hit my head, and lay on the floor swearing for a few seconds. Happy?

I slowly got up, rubbing my head and looked over the control panel. It was a messge that we were getting close to our target. I looked onto the displays set on the wall and saw the enormity of thegently curvingmothership looming before me.

"Sweet." I ran into the back of the Phantom, dragging my coat off of the chair on the way. When I got there I gave my two teammates a nudge with my foot to wake them up. Starfire was up immediately but I almost had to full on kick BeastBoy. "C'mon, get in gear. We're at the ship."

Starfire staggered into the cockpit, rubbing the sleep out of her eye, and looked at the screen. "That is the shipwe seek?"

"Yep, and Control Freak's on it somewhere, and our ticket home."

BeastBoy ambled up next to us. "Only one problem though, how the heck are we supposed to get on that thing."

"... I was kinda hoping one of you had an idea."

Both of them frowned at me.

"Hey don't look at me, I'm just making this up as I go along." I jolted my eyes over to the control panel when I detected a change on one of the displays. "Hey, check it out. One of their docking bays opened up! We can get in that way!"

"Why did the bays open up?"

"I don't kn- oh shit, they're deploying craft."

BeastBoy started, "What, how many are there!"

I squinted at the display, "Three, no four, no five, no eight! Godammit there are like twenty of the fucking things!" Twenty blips appeared on my radar, all of them moving towards us.

Starfire shouted "What should we- ACCKK!" Starfire stopped her statement as the ship rocked and shook from the first volley of fuel rods that assailed the ship. Sparks shot from random places, the entire ship jolted, we all lost our balance and fell, it was very star trek-like.

I began shouting as soon as I got back up "Both of you, get on the turrets! I'm gonna land on that thing." Both of them nodded and ran to the firing stations, Starfire stretching herself out to control two firing controls at the same time.

I slammed the throttle and weaved out of the way of a pair of fuel rods as plasma blasts pock marked our hull with small melted divots. BeastBoy and Starfire fired in constant streams of fire, keeping a handful of Banshees at bay.

I hit the air brakes and took the Banshees by surprise, forcing them to headlong slam into my ship, destroying one and scattering the rest. Unfortunately it put me in firing range of their explosive fuel rod guns. The ship once again shook violently as it was assailed by hot green explosives.

Starfire shouted "I lost one of my turrets! I am sorry Reaver!" as she shifted to only controlling one gun. I grimaced as I looked over the damage reports the ship computer was yammering at me. I quickly took a scan of the many, many buttons on the control panel.

I decided on the one marked 'boosters'. Iyelled "Hold on everyone" andpressed it down, the engines whined loudly.

I slid back several feet as the boosters kicked on, suddenly accelerating the Phantom to about five hundred miles per hour.We once again slammed into the mass of Banshees and tore through them like paper. When I finally managed to resist the sudden G's and untap the thrusters we were several miles from the other banshees. I wondered why we didn't use that to get here.

Then I got my answer, thrusters eat fuel. I heard the low fuel ding and saw that we had only about a tablespoon of power left. "Are you two okay?"

Starfire got up from the tangle mess she had formed with BeastBoy, "We are undamaged." She said oddly cheerfully.

"Speak for yourself." grumbled BeastBoy as he pulled himself out from under Starfire, rubbing his back as he did so.

"I've gotta land this thing, we've got about two minutes of fuel left." I wheeled around the touch down on the hull of the ship.

"Reaver, there!" Starfire pointed at the landing bay, and the four Banshees sliding out of it.

"Yeah, what about-oh shit I get it!" And I gunned it.

The flock of Banshees had caught up to us and was peppering our back with shot. I diverted everything towards powering the engine, so the meager lighting inside the Phantom disappeared and the turrets deactivated. The only light in the cockpit was from the steady glow of my control panel. Yet the banshees still stayed on us.

There was another violent shaking as another fuel rod slammed into usand a new window popped up on my display that read 'CORE BREACH IMMINENT' with a little diagram of a fractured orb, and then a moment later the orb exploded.

"Oh shit, if we get hit one more time we're gonna blow. We need to get those banshees off our ass."

BeastBoy piped in "So turn back on the turrets! We can take em'."

"If I do, we won't make it to the bay doors. Fuck!" I paused and glanced at the rear cameras showing the flock of air craft. "Shit... alright Starfire-" I turned around, and then was confused when they weren't behind me. "Starfire? BeastBoy?"There was a sudden flare of blue from one of my displays and I turned around to see a lance of green energy tearing through the masses of Banshees, and the ones that weren't being hit were breaking off.

I ran from my controls and looked in the back of the Phantom to see an emerald gorilla leaning down into the gravity hatch with one arm and covering up his eyes with the other. After about twenty seconds BeastBoy pulled up a windblown Starfire from the hatch. She cheerfully exclaimed "All aircraft have been dealt with!" as she started smoothing out her hair.

BeastBoy had suspended Starfire out of the Phantom by her legs so that she could fire at the Banshees. BeastBoy was covering up his eyes because, well, Starfire was still only wearing a skirt. I was vaguely surprised at BeastBoy for his modesty. I smirked and said "Good job, now get back in the cock pit."

I got back to the control just in time to see the four banshees at the docking bay pull away, obviously not enthused about fighting twenty tons of metal flying at them. My control panel told me that the engine core was overheating but I ignored it. The engines would have to run hot for a few more seconds.

I saw the shield generators start to glow. If they activated we would crash into them and no doubt die in a fiery explosion, but if I pulled away we would have to contend with the reforming flight of Banshees. It was at that point that I remembered I'm a gambling man and tapped to thrusters, burning up all the fuel we had left and forcing us to run on momentum for the last hundred feet.

The next few seconds seemed to pass very slowly. I recall the alert on the panel activating a moment before I heard a thundering boom as the core finally exploded. I turned and sawStarfire standing there, silouhetted against blue fire. I tried to formulate a warning, but I was too slow, the fire flew into the cock pit.

At that moment the shield for the docking bay activated, and a shimmering blue force-field sliced the nose off of our Phantom, and interposed itself between the raging explosion and us. The shield activated so close to our bodies that I saw that is sliced a few hairs from BeastBoy's head. If it had turned on a second earlier BeastBoy would be laying in two separate places now.

The nose flew into the bay and crashed into a pair of Banshees, and then promptly exploded. The only thing that saved any of us from sharing the same fate was Starfire grabbing onto mine and BeastBoy's backs and holding us suspended in the air. She gently floated down and deposited us on the purple floor.

"That was... most harrowing." Said Starfire as calmy as she could as she looked at the ruined hulk of the Phantom and the residual explosion outside the shield faintly blue, transparent shield.

"Harrowing? HARROWING? WE ALMOST GOT KILLED!" BeastBoy shouted.

Iwanted to try and make BeastBoy feel better, but I was really shaken. My knees were still a bit wobbly from my very close brush with death. "Alright, um, let's walk it off. Yeah, let's just walk it off."

A pair of double doors opened further down the hangar and a very large number of Covenant started shooting at us.

"Better yet run it off! RUN IT OFF!" and I turned tail and started booking it as plasma impacted everything around me. Starfire and BeastBoy were close behind me.

Starfire floated up near me. "Reaver, why are we retreating?"

"I would rather not fight a horde of bloodthirsty aliens in a wide open space. Let's see if we can get ourselves into a hallway." I started running for the nearest door, I didn't care that it was closed.

At about twenty feet from the door I leapt at it feet first, legs curled underneath me like springs. I slammed the door with all the force I could muster and

...nothing.

I fell to the ground in a heap, clutching my legs. I shifted one eye to the door and saw that I had only made a tiny little dent in the metal. It was like a car got in a five mile per hour fender bender outside a McDonalds.

"Well... that was useless." And then I remembered I was being shot at. I spun, whipping my shield all around me, deflecting hails of shot as the Covenant army turned on me.

Starfire touched down next to me and started slamming the door, but with no more effect than my efforts. I gave her cover by sliding a large purple object next to us, and started returning fire with the pair of needlers mounted in it's side. Some sort of weapon crate I guess...

BeastBoy ran up in the form of a wolf and then morphed back into his elf form. "Uh... dudes." and he tapped a single button on the display next to the door. The portal obligingly opened up. The changeling gave us a casual smirk.

I blinked at BeastBoy then shoved the two of them through the door. I primed two plasma grenades and flung them into the mass of opponents before leaping in myself. The mangled door screeched shut behind me.

It was a long hallway, about two hundred feet and angled up slightly with a similar looking door on the other end.

Almost immediately I heard the door start to screech as the Covenant on the other side tired to open up the mangle portal, but it was slowed by the heavy dents pounded into it, and the fact that as soon as I heard it start to open again I leapt over and held it shut.

I shouted through clenched teeth "Starfire, weld the door shut!"

Starfire quickly nodded and sent out a beam of green energy that melted the door at the top and bottom, and then the center when I stepped away. Within about half a minute the door was fused shut and I could hear the frustrated roars of Elites on the other side.

BeastBoy tentatively asked "Will that hold them?"

"I'd rather not find out, let's get the hell out of here and find Control Freak." We started sprinting for the far door.

We got there and BeastBoy pulled his button pushing trick again, making quite the show of mocking us for not thinking of it before hand, much to my chagrin. Starfire just giggled.

The scene on the other side of the sliding steel door was... different.

It was grassland, rolling hills and meadows of a lush, bluish-green grass. Off in the distance I could see several tall, blooming trees peaking over hill tops. There was even a narrow stream nearby that lightly babbled. I could hear the singing of birds.

"... Huh... There's something you don't see every day."

Starfire stepped forward, arms wide, taking in the whole scene. "What is this place? It is beautiful."

"Dudes, aren't we on a space ship. What's a nice place like this doing on a space ship?"

"I have no godly idea why this is here BeastBoy, I honestly do not." We all stood gawking for a few seconds before our ears perked up at the sounds of gunfire.

Cresting over a far off hill was a large jeep, similar to the one that I took cover behind back when I first entered the game world. It was firing behind it at a large red craft that floated on hover pads and also had an automatic plasma gun mounted on it's back. Two people sitting on the sides of the craft firing at the jeep. I squinted at the contents of the jeep, and was surprised to find it was filled with-

"Humans!" BeastBoy shouted. "That Warthog is full of humans!"

Sure enough it was, three very scared looking humans. As I watched the gunner was pelted with plasma and fell out of the seat, leaving the vehicle all but defenseless.

"We have to help them!" Starfire flew off to support them.

Her efforts were, however, useless. As the jeep finally crested over the last hill a spray of plasma pelted into it's sideand it violently exploded in midair as it ramped off the hill. The Warthog's burning hulk rolled to a stop only a few feet away as I shielded myself from debris. Then I heard a very familiar fat man's voice...

"Alright boys, it's official, edge: Spectre! Ahahahahaha!" And the recently named red Spectre stopped only a couple dozen feet away, and Control Freak stepped out.

I could only recognize him because of his body's size, everything else was covered up. The man was wearing Master Chief's green armor, except it was sized to him. Even the helmet was bigger to house his neck fat. In his hand wasa purple Covenant Carbine. Around him formed up a trio of large, brown, ape-likecreatures with patchy brown fur, Brutes. In each of their hands was a long grenade launcher from the way it was held that had a long, curving blade attached to it's butt.

Control Freak leveled his helmet on us. "Ahh, it appears that the Titans have finally decided to show up. Been having fun in my little world?"

Starfire shouted "You will send us all back right NOW!"

Control Freak sniggered "No can do sweet cheeks, not until I've had my fun."

Starfire mumbled "Sweet cheeks?"

I knelt down and palmed an object on the ground, " What do you mean had your fun?"

"I mean until I'm done playing my game, and when I'm done with this one I'll move onto the next, and the next, and the next. And by the time I'm done playing my games, there will be more out! So I can play forever and ever! AHAHAAHHAAAHAHAHAH!" He started cackling and then suddenly stopped "But what fun is a game without other players? You can't deathmatch by yourself, which is why YOU three" he enthusiastically pointed at us "are going to stay here with me!" And then he started cackling again.

"Whoa, he's gone nuts." BeastBoy said off to the side.

"Your right, the power he has here must be putting him on some sort of suped up power trip. C'mon, we can get him while he's laughing his ass off!" I lifted the SMG that flew from the crashed Warthog and opened fire, causing a medley of bright shield flares to come up over Control Freak's armored body. My clip ran dry in about three seconds.

A pair of the hairy things fired at me, launching shells from their grenade launchers. One missed me fully, and the other skipped off the ground and detonated right in front of my shield, throwing me back. The other Brute sighted in on BeastBoy, but had his aim fouled by a flash of bright green that forced him to the ground. One of the others fired a smattering of shots at Starfire, forcing her to dodge perilously. He started to reload but didn't get to finish as my foot suddenly slammed into his face.

He was back up faster than I would have thought possible, swinging his weapon at me in a wide arc like it was an axe.I hopped backandaway, but he quickly lance out and landed a solid punch on my jaw.He swung like he had the weight of a train behind his arm, and his fist might as well have been made of steel. Stars exploded into my vision as I flew more than a few feet and slammed into the ground. The Brute grinned and lumbered in like a hungry bear, holding his weapon like a sword. I staggered back up to my feet, repairing a concussion and mending bones, an equally large grin on my broken face.

BeastBoy morphed into a gorilla and rushed at one of the Brutes, who threw down his own gun and met the challenge with a howl. BeastBoy swung and the Brute took it with nary a flinch. The beast swung back and slammed BeastBoy in the chest, knocking the wind out of his lungs and forcing him to hunch over. The Brute took advantage of this and grabbed the back of the primate's head, and then with a powerful downward thrust, crushed BeastBoy's face into the ground. BeastBoy tried to push himself up, but at that moment the Brute started punching him in the spine, eliciting a pained scream from BeastBoy. Suddenly the green monkey was still... for little more than a second before he exploded upwards in the form of a stegosaurus. The Brute was flung upwards by the sudden rise in a screaming arc.

Starfire flew in low, weaving between the bits of red hot plasma that was pouring from the fronts of a Brute's dual crimson Plasma rifles. She returned fire with a poorly aimed eye laser, forcing the Brute to do no more than slightly shift to avoid. Starfire started to charge a huge starbolt...

At the hundredfoot mark, the plasma stopped suddenly as the Brute flung them down, growling loudly and slamming his chest. He broke into a loping run at the incoming alien. He leapt at her just in time to see a hugely powerful starbolt tear into his chest and fly out his back, exploding on the face of a far hill that was suddenlymuch smaller.

Starfire whipped around and shouted "My opponent is vanquished!"

BeastBoy charged forward and whipped around, impacting the back of his Brute with the spikes on his tail, impaling him in four places. Hemorphed back and shouted "Mine too!"

"And mine makes three." I strode over a hill, dragging the badly beaten corpse of my opponent with a smoking SMG in my hand. "Where's Control Freak?"

"There!" Starfire pointed at the far off Spectre as it crested a hill. She flew off as BeastBoy morphed into a pteradacyl and grabbed my shoulders, somehow not pinching me. We flew off.

We caught up to him quickly, hovering about two hundred feet over his Spectre. Control Freak saw us coming and shifted, pointing his remote at the turret. There was a flicker, like a bad television, and suddenly there was a red Elite standing in the gunner seat. More importantly he was shooting at us.

I shook my arm free of BeastBoy's talon and flipped myself around so that I was hanging by my legs. With my arms free, I could block, and proceeded to do so when a few shots would have perforated BeastBoy's main mass, deflecting an entire burst of shot.

Starfire flashed down a starbolt that exploded slightly ahead of the Spectre. The blast launched the vehicle into the air and made it do a barrel roll before landing back on it's floatation pads, having not lost an ounce of speed. Damn that geek could drive.

Control Freak once again fired back at his vehicle, flickering in a pair of blue Elites. I couldn't quite make out what they were wielding until I focused on it.

Rocket Launchers, they were carrying fucking Rocket Lauchers.

In my sudden shock I missed a pair of shots that put quarted sized holes in BeastBoy's wings, bringing forth a caw of pain and a sudden sluggishness to his flight. Control Freak once again clicked his remote and summoned forth a swarm of Drones that began firing at Starfire, causing her to lag back behind.

The two Rocket Elites opened fire, launching spiraling rockets that bore in on the flying dinosaur in rapid succession. BeastBoy freaked out and quickly shifted into a much smaller target, a sparrow. That left me in a free fall.

I saw a large number of rockets turned to come at me, having been locked onto me all along. I had played Halo 2 a few times, and I knew for a fact that the rockets couldn't lock onto people, only vehicles. And those Elites were firing in rapid succession, never reloading, they just kept spraying locked on rockets at us.

Why? Because Control Freak said so.

I pondered this as I fell, rocket coming in, and me with no conceivable means of dodging. It was then that I decided to do one of the ballsiest things in my life.

I flipped around, feet pointed out in front of me and slightly angled up. As the first rocket got close I swung my foot, making contact with the side of the explosive, and kicked off of it, propelling myself forward. The next one was close, and I twisted myself around to do the same thing as before, kicking off of the rockets and propelling myself forward with each one. It must have looked awesome to a bystander, but it was pants-shittingly terrifying for me.

In a few leaps I was at the Spectre. I hopped off the last rocket and landed on the muzzle of the rocket launcher, forcing the Elite to look downward and then I kicked off of his back, pitching him off of the high speed vehicle. The other Rocket Elite whipped on me with a plasma rifle out, rocket launcher in his other hand. I deflected his burst of plasma back into his face and whipped around, slashing the turret on the back of the vehicle off of it's mount. The Elite holding onto it dropped down and fell out of the vehicle as his balance was now gone. The last remaining Elite lunged, hoping to knock me out of the vehicle. I dropped down under that and he flew away from the vehicle.

I crawled over the vehicle and perched next to Control Freak's driver seat, holding my claw to his throat. I shouted "Give it up Control Freak."

"Never!" He pitched the vehicle around in a futile attempt to shake me off. I just pressed in with my claw tips, lightly scratching his armor.

"Your on the clock here fat man, your rockets are still coming in at me, and I doubt you can survive twelve rockets slamming into your ass."

I stood up, anchoring myself with my hand, claw still pressed against Control Freak's head. "Your done fat man."

Control Freak snapped his gaze on me, and I could more or less sense him narrow his eyes. "Oh so we have a challenge do we? Very well then! Meet me at the central arena if you have the guts!"

I shouted out "Why?"

"That's where the final boss is, duh." He hit the brakes suddenly, forcing me to lose my balance. He quickly whipped out his remote and pointed it behind him, transmuting the rockets into-

-Beam rifle shots, twelve beam rifle shots, heading at me perfectly. I didn't have the lung capacity anymore to scream as my chest was turned into swiss cheese. I fell off of the Spectre, and was vaguely aware of him driving away, laughing madly.

Then I mercifully blacked out.

* * *

My eyes snapped open suddenly, totally awake. I jolted into a sitting position.

And almost fell five hundred feet when I found that I was being carried by Starfire, who was splattered in green blood, none of it hers. She eeped loudly and frantically tried to get back ahold of me, ending up carrying me by my foot.

"R-Reaver, you are awake!"

"Thanks for the news flash. Where's Control Freak?"

"There, in that structure." She nodded towards an enormous building not too far away. "We spent a long period of time searching for you, and after we did he had escaped. BeastBoy is ahead scouting for us. Tell me Reaver, are you well. When we found you there was much blood."

I ran my hand over the ragged patchwork of scars that was my chest, and found almost fully healed wounds. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Glorious."

She was quiet all the way to a small outcropping of rock we were using as a makeshift shelter. I touched down and started eating a jerky flavored package from the Phantom, and as I did so, I grimly thought _"Alright you fat mother fucker, you want your silly little game, you'll get it." _


	40. Game Over

The building was massive, easily half a mile high. Half of that height was a giant, vaguely phallic tower that rose from the center of a dome that was half a mile at it's apex. Around that dome was a ring of a smaller building that was set with sweeping cornerpieces and curving battlements. The entire thing must have been at least one and a half square miles, half of which which was the dome. The building was on a low hill with a lightly wooded plain around it for about a mile. From my vantage point in the sky I could almost see a few patrols driving around the perimeter of the base.

"BeastBoy, are those patrols I see?"

The greenhawk on my shoulder morphed into a parrot and squaked "Yeah, three Ghosts and a Spectre to each, at least. And he's got banshees flying around all the time."

"Hmm, do you see any holes anywhere?"

"Not really."

"Damn. I'd say to wait for nightfall but we're short on time here, that and I'm not sure the sun goes down here."

"I could fly up and try to break it."

"Don't forget about Icarus BeastBoy, the guy who flew so close to sun his wings melted. I don't want to have to scrape up a pan fried parakeet. That and it would pretty much send him the signal that we were coming in, he'd be ready for us."

"Maybe we could just take one of the patrols on real fast, finish em' off before they can call in."

"Mmm, too risky. If they did call in, we'd have an army falling on us. I'd rather do this with as little fighting as possible, y'know, save our strength for Control Freak."

"I hear ya, we're gonna have trouble with him."

"You know it."

A pause.

"Hey Reaver."

"What?"

"Sorry I dropped you before, when the rockets were coming at us. I'...sorta... spazzed out." The bird lowered it's beak sorrowfully."

I sighed, "It's fine BeastBoy, if you'd stuck around I'd be cleaning you off of my coat right now. You made the right decision to let me fall."

"But-"

"If it ever again comes down to me getting hurt or you getting hurt BeastBoy, let me take the punishment. I'm the one who can heal, remember. I'm used to injury, you aren't. Alright?"

"Alright?"

"Yeah... yeah sure Reaver."

"Good, now then. What was with each patrol?"

"Could this conversation take place on the ground please? My arms are most tired."

I looked down and was reminded that I was standing on Starfire as she hovered in the air. When I looked down I got a sudden sense of vertigo from my height off the ground, roughly a thousand feet. I almost lost my balance.

"Oh yeah, sure Starfire. Sorry, I forgot about you for a minute there."

"It is fine Reaver." She slowly started to hover down.

When we reached the ground I uncorked a small canteen from my pocket and took a long gulp of water. I offered it to my teammates who declined. "So, what do you guys think."

"I think we're screwed."

"Nice optimism BeastBoy. What about you Starfire?"

"No matter how bad things appear, I believe that we will prevail. We are very capable individuals and even more powerful as a team, together we will defeat the Control Freak and get home!" She jubilantly exclaimed with a happy expression on her face.

"... Alright, but do you have any tactical advice?"

"Oh, well, um, no. I apologize, normally Robin or Cyborg or Raven handle our exact strategems. BeastBoy and I are not as... adept at such thing." She simpered and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, to be perfectly honest lady and gentleman, I got nothing. Maybe if it was dark I would be able to come up with a plan or if the patrols weren't fully capable of being shot twenty times before dying. Some better weapons or vehicles would be fantastic too." In truth, I had a few pretty good ideas, but nothing that would be sure to get us in there. I absolutely hate being forced into a leadership position. If a plan fails, it's all the leaders fault, and I didnt' want that responsibility. Not again.

BeastBoy piped up "What if we went back to grab the Rocket launchers those Elites dropped. Those would be helpful."

"BeastBoy that's a ter-, wait, what did you just say?"

"The Rocket launchers, back where you got shot alot. I think they're still there. Along with a few other guns near the wrecked Warthog."

"That is wonderful idea BeastBoy, well done!" Starfire lightly clapped her hands.

"When did you get smart?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I've played this game for over two hundred hours, I never forget where an enemy dropped a good gun."

* * *

Resouces I have at my disposalat the moment: 

Two Rocket launchers with a four rockets apiece.

Three SMGs and about three hundred rounds total held in caseless magazines.

TwoMagnum pistols with twoclips.

Ten plasma grenades.

Two fragmentation grenades.

Three plasma rifles at almost full charge.

Two half spent Brute plasma rifles.

One working Brute shot and four chains of ballistic grenades.

A somewhat tired and remarkably cheery alien girl.

A goofy green shapeshifter.

A pair of clean socks.

VS.

An immeasurable army of Brutes, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Drones and Hunters all armed with close to infinite ammo and any vehicle or weapon they want at just about any time, under the control of a megalomaniacal video game junkie who's holed up in a near impenetrable fortress of stone and steel.

Despite this, I remain optomistic.

Three hours later, the base of an exceptionally large hill about a mile away from Control Freak's stronghold.

A procession of vehicles drove along on their appointed rounds. Three Ghost bikesand a Spectre, all of which were armed to the teeth. The Spectre loaded up fully with Brutes and the Ghosts sporting red Elite pilots.

"Okay BeastBoy steady."

"Ook."

"I got the Spectre, your on the far Ghost. You take the nearest Ghost with your second shot and I got the middle one. Okay, on three. One... two... three!" Twin spiraling Rockets shot out of our barrels and made a winding trip towards our targets.

"Okay BeastBoy next target! Onetwo...three!" The next to came out of the barrels not exactly in perfect syncronization, but it was close enough. I rubbed my shoulder where the rocket was mounted.

The first rockets struck the distant target with a thunderous explosion, and the second hit before they had even gotten a chance to fully react. I shouted into BeastBoy's borrowed communicator "Starfire, how'd we do?"

There was a brief pause before Starfire crackled back over the device "Targets have been eliminated."

"Rock ass! That's what I'm talking about! Good job BeastBoy, and wonderful idea,turning into a chimp to manage the Rocket launcher, your on a roll today."

The green chimp at my side grinned and put his hand on his hip. I don't care who you are, a chimpanzee grinning and holding a smoking Rocket launcher is just funny.

BeastBoy shifted into a Pteradactyl and I jumped onto his back, snatching up his discarded Rocket Launcher anda few other weaponsas I went. I said next to BeastBoy's face "Alright, fly hard BeastBoy. We only have a four minute window until someone will undoubtedly notice how much we kick ass." The dinosaur gave me a sideways look that I took as amused. I began to reload the two Rocket Launchers.

I saw further ahead that Starfire had taken point, just as the plan said. Her duty was to destroy any stationary defences before anyone could come to man them or at least before BeastBoy's size made him a target. My job was to annihilate any vehicle that were coming up on our asses

About two minutes into our flight she darted ahead to do her duty, and I turned on a pair of banshees to do mine.

Starfire flashed out a pair of green optic blasts, shattering three plasma turrets in a single sweep before any Grunts sat in them. A pair of the little bastards made a run for the remaining turrets, but them and their defences were crushed in a sudden explosion.

A large door set into the side of the fortress started to slowly open. By the time Starfire had noticed, after she finished the last of the standing defense, the door had slid open enough for her to see what was coming out.

A pair of Spectres, manned by Elites, jetted out of the opening. The turret man opened fire, shooting out a narrow stream of plasma at the flying Tamaranian. Within a second the other one had joined him and the door had started to slowly close.

The barrel on my Rocket launcher spun, bringing the next rocket into line to be shot. Within two second it had left the now hot-to-the-touch barrel of my ordnance and blew the other Banshee out of the sky. I threw the device off of my flying platform. That left me with two shots.

I forwent the rockets for now and hefted up a Brute shot and clattered in a chain of four grenades. I launched all four in rapid succession, annihilating a single banshee in the patrol of four. Another chain, another dead banshee, then another. The last one pulled off to join another patrol, causing all but one of my shots to miss.

Off in distance I saw the numerous ground basedpatrols coming in towards the fortress at breakneck speed with no thought towards formation. Shit, I had thought that the Ghosts would move at the slower Spectre's pace. This shaved about a minute off of our time. That coupled with the fact that I could see Starfire narrowly dodging hails of plasma made the plan start to disintegrate.

The rocket launcher was back on my shoulder a moment later when I saw another pair of craft fly into range. I locked onto another Banshee, relishing the "click, click, beeeep." of the mechanishm latching onto my target. Another screaming projectile blasted out of the front of my weapon. Within a few seconds the distant Banshee was blasted apart. I once again locked onto another Banshee and fired.

I was surprised however to see the Banshee flip upwards in a physics defying dodge, narrowly evading the screaming projectile. The missile tried to correct itself, turned too quickly and fouled itself into a twirl, uselessly exploding short of it's target.

The Banshee now had the height advantage on us, and it used to rain plasma down on us. BeastBoy twisted and spun, narrowly evading any excessive damage to himself beyond scorched wing membrane. The Banshee whirled back for another pass.

"BeastBoy, don't dodge this next barrage, I have an idea."

The beast cawed indignantly.

"Don't wuss out on me again." I said stone faced. The lizard didn't caw again.

The Banshee unleashed another barrage of plasma, and I unleashed on back, pouring as much red fire at the vehicle as I couls from the mouths of a pair of brute-plasma-rifles. My shots fouled his aim for the most part, what he didn't miss I took or scorched into BeastBoy's back. He didn't make a sound.

Finally the Banshee went for broke and fired a green smoking fuel rod blast. I threw down the plasma rifles and charged the shield on my arm, swinging it around at the green projectile. The green energy contacted the blue, pulsed on the metal plate for a second, and then volleyed back at the airborn vehicle with a glowing pulse of greenish blue.

It struck just as the Banshee was taxiing around for another pass and blew it to pieces, many half melted pieces to be exact.

I collapsed onto the back of my teammate "Shit... I need a fuckin' drink."

* * *

Starfire jets to her right and spins, hurling a glowing green bolt at one of the Spectres. The driver slams the thruster and narrowly evades the explosion. The battlefield all around is pock marked with craters from similar, failed, efforts. 

She dives low to avoid more of the never ending plasma shots, and then is forced to stop as she's about to headlong charge into another of the plasma streams. Her sudden stillness gives the side mounted Elites the chance they need to start a heavy barrage.

The Tamaranian shoots up in a green streak, avoiding all the attacks. She levels off at about seven hundred feet. Screaming loudly, she charges twin fistfuls of starbolt energy. Before the guns can level on her, she's hurled her charges. But rather than a pair of bolts, she's hurling a righteous flurry of fire. Dozens upon dozens of low powered shots impact all over the battlefield, kicking up an enormous cloud of dust from the loose, dry ground. The gunners were blinded.

The red Elite on the main gun spun the weapon around, vainly searching for a target to shoot. He growled loudly in frustration.

They didn't have to be vigilant long. Starfire flew in low and tore her fist into the underside of the Spectre, rising up and above the obscuring cloud. The Elites within held on for dear life.

The other vehicle opened fire on the spectacle only to have their shots slam into the side of their allies' vehicle. Starfire flew at the other Spectre and reared back the fist that was covered in a Spectre and screaming Elites and punched, using the vehicle as an enormous brass knuckle.

The vehicle skidded along the ground, grinding to a halt against the wall of the compound, but not before cracking a large portion of the wall. The Elites began to pile out, grasping weapons and grenades.

There was a green pulse, and the Spectres detonated almost in perfect unison in an enormous plume of blue plasma and green fire. All eight Elites were fried and an enormous hole was torn into the side of the fortress.

Starfire floated up through the miasma of smoke with nary a mark save a dishevelment of her hair. She tooka much needed breath.

"Heeey!" I shouted from atop my transport. "Staaarfiirrre!"

"Friends! It is most good to see you!" She flew down to the ground and landed just a moment before we did.

I looked around at the just now settling battle field, and smiled. "Good job Starfire."

"I thank you, come we must keep moving. I have created us an entrance." And we all dashed into the hole torn in the building.

* * *

The busted hole led to a small room with a pair of Grunts crushed under debris. A door led to the left. I strolled on through, SMGs poised. 

It was an enormous hallway, at least a hundred feet wide and stretched half a mile. Running lights stretched all along the length that only lit up when something was nearby. I took a step forward an one of the lights flicked on while one of the lights behind me turned off. Off in the distance I saw a few lights on near enemy fortifications.

I turned back to my teammates and shouted, "Subtleties out! We need to use speed!"

BeastBoy shouted "I'm pretty sure CF is at the end of this tunnel."

"What makes you say that?"

"... Seems like a good idea?"

"Good enough for me. Straight shot then folks, let's move!" BeastBoy shifted to a falcon and took off.

Starfire wandered up to me as I holstered my guns, grabbed my forearms and hefted me up into the air and after BeastBoy.

We flew over the heads of the people occupying the first check point. They fired a few wild shots as us, missing by at least five feet every time. Two Elites mounted ghosts and gave chase, spraying plasma all the while.

A single shot snaked in to burn the back of my thigh. I let out a wince more from surprise than anything.

Starfire gasped "Reaver! Are you alright?"

"Never better. S'cuse me." I flipped up my body and wrapped my legs around Starfire's torso, freeing up my hands. I tore into my coat and pulled a pair of plasma grenades, primed both of them, and flicked them at the pursuing ghosts.

One of them missed, landing a bit ahead of one of the Ghosts. It was all good though, because the grenade exploded under it's left side, sending it into a careening flip that smashed it into the other Ghost. Then the other grenade went off on the other Ghost, resulting in a very cool explosion.

I flipped back around to my previous position. "Sorry about that Starfire."

"I-it is fine Reaver, no problem at all." She simpered "Just... please do not do it again." She was blushing. I didn't blame her, I would be too if the roles were reversed. "Look, BeastBoy has engaged the next checkpoint!"

Sure enough he had. I saw a greenElephant whip it's trunk to the side, batting away a cadre of Grunts. A lone Elite charged screaming, fireing his plasma rifle with abandon. BeastBoy smashed him like a nail with his giant foot. A Ghost rounded a line of weapon crates, but before it could fire off a single shot BeastBoy hefted an object roughly the size of a television box in his trunk and hurl it. The object exploded on contact with the Ghosts front, destroying the vehicle and it's pilot.

A bold white Elite leapt up, an energy sword crackling into existence in his grasp. He perched on the creature's back, raising his blade to slice BeastBoy's spine in two.

"Hey, you with the face!"

The Elite turned just in time to recieve a neck shattering foot to the mandibles as Starfire swung me like a bat. The Elite ragdolled at least thirty feet before flattening against the stone wall. I grinned wide.

BeastBoy morphed back into a bird and followed after us. I shouted at it "You owe us a drink!" The falcon just stuck it's tongue at me.

There weren'tany other lit up spots until the end of the tunnel. Starfire jubilantly exclaimed "I believe we have made it!"

Surprisingly, we had. A few minutes later we entered the central dome, a starkly bright affair that blinded me for a short period of time. When my vision cleared I saw that the inside of the dome was a criss cross of stone and metalplatforms, bridges, and cables. The lowest level of the dome was open with only four pillars holding up the mass of walkways, the rest of it suspended by gravity generators set into the walkways. The lowest level had about fifty feet before if hit the first tier of paths.

"Whooaa..." Said BeastBoy in amazement as he morphed back into an elf "How're wegonna find him in this mess?"

"He's roughlythree hundred yards ahead and sitting approximately four yards up. He's got an impressive vanguard of troops all around him." I calmly said with closed eyes.

BeastBoy gave me a weird look.

"What? I sense life energy, remember?"

"Wonderful, what will our strategy be for dealing with the Control Freak?"

I started thinking. "_Maybe we could sneak up behind him, naw he'd know we were coming by now. We could attack from the walkways, but that would make BeastBoy almost useless and give them a reason to use area effect weapons. Perhaps I could sneak distract them and give the others a chance to get CF while his guard is busy, wait, that would get me killed. Dammit I'm hungry, steak would be good right now, and maybe a potatoe. Mmm, wait... FUCK I'm supposed to be thinking about strategy, not food. Let's see, strategy, strategy... aww fuck it." _

"Ya know what, I'm sick of coming up with complicated plans. Here's the plan, we dive in balls first and beat on him until he sends us back... then we beat on him some more until dinner!" I said with a grin.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Glorious!" Starfire paused "Please, what does balls first mean?"

Both us looked away nonchalently.

* * *

Control Freak sat on his enormous purple and gray throne in his horribly distorted Master Chief Armor, laughing his head off as a pair of Brutes fought in a circle in front of him. The one on the right gripped his opponent's head and slammed it down onto his outstretched knee, shattering his muzzle. The wounded one pushed forward, trying to force his opponent out of the circle. The other Brute brought his elbow down onto his opponent's spine, shattering it like glass. 

The victorious Brute rose his arms in a celebratory gesture, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Control Freak settled down the crowd with a gesture, and another opponent walked into the circle, a gold armored Elite.

CF shouted, "Next match, Galfor versus Hetik, FIGHT!"

Neither of them got a chance to do so as a plasma grenade settled onto the Brute's face. Only Control Freak managed to say anything in reference to it: "Hey, a spider!"

I was plummeting like a comet,spinning wildly and flinging grenades with both hands. One of my fragmentation grenades hit the ground, bounced up about six feet, and went off right in the face of one of the few Brutes who seemed to have the sense to grab a gun, filling his face with shrapnel.

I landed heavily on the face of an unfortunate grunt, all of my grenades gone. I pulled out my SMGs and went into a spin, spraying shot into the crowd. Several went down before I had emptied my clips. I flipped out the magazines.

A Grunt came at me with a charged plasma pistol. I flashed out a foot, hitting both of my expelled clips. One hit the hand of the Grunt and forced his shot to go wild, right into the face of an Elite next to him, killing his shield. The other clip flew down the Elite's open throat, choking him.

Several opponents were now aware of my presence and began to get their bearings on me. That was until green bolts of fury sailed down at them like rain, distracting almost all of them.

A gold Elite charge me, the one from the gladiatorial fight, with a sword raised. I whipped a squirrel at him, yes a squirrel, that latched onto his face. The rodent suddenly morphed into a Utah Raptor, an enormous breed of the normal raptor, and began to tear into his back.

A Brute shot was fired at me, but the grenade bounced off of my shield and into a mass of nearby Grunts. I jumped forward, handsprung off the ground, and came up with a pair of fallen grenades that I primed and slapped onto the sides of the offending Brute's head. I kipped away as he went into a fury before his head was vaporized.

I went into a blue-streakingdervish spin before landing on the ground amidst a crowd of starbolt battered Covenant. I cut a bloody swath through the mass like they were but tall grass and I was the mower. After a minute of such punishment, I paused, breathed, looked up...

And Control Freak was gone.

"Oh piss." I turned to the side and tore an Elite as an afterthought to my revelation. A loud animalistic grunt penetrated the general cacophony of a large scale battle. A second later a green bull ran by, a squeling Elite on it's horns blocking fire from a cadre of Elites that were firing streams of plasma and streaks of green. He scattered them like bowling pins.

I leapt forward, pivoted off of the bull's horns, and jammed a heel into the face of a charging Brute. I rode with the momentum and tore my claw across his eyes, putting him out of the melee.

A sudden explosion off to my right got my attention. I spied a Grunt standing on the wall holding a fuel rod gun, the kind that are mounted on Banshees, trying desperately to sight in on BeastBoy, who was now an enormous Tiger. I licked my lips and jumped up.

The little bastard never saw it coming. I ripped off his head cleanly, his body still standing for a moment with his cranium laying at his feet. I snatched away the fuel rod cannon before his corpse tumbled off of the battlement. I lowered it onto my shoulder, scanning below me for a good target. I cracked off the three remaining shots in the weapon at a tightly clustered group of Elites and Brutes that were firing away at Starfire's aerial form. Most of them went flying, trailing fire. I dropped the gun, and as an afterthought scooped up a pair of the Grunt's dropped grenades.

I looked over the fight and smiled. BeastBoy was off in a corner fighting by himself as roughly twenty Brutes and Elites jumped on his form. A Brute lunged, actually grabbing on the hind quarters of the big cat, this prompted the rest of the combatants to dog pile on him, forming a pile at least seven feet high. BeastBoy was invisible.

I was expecting the pile to suddenly fly up as BeastBoy shifted to something enormous, but instead all I saw was a thin snake slither onto the top of the pile, morph into a hummingbird and blur twenty feet in the air. Then the hummingbird morphed into a long neck dinosaur, the name escapes me, right above the pile of opponents. I heard the collective crunch from sixty feet away.

Starfire swooped low, free from the mass of plasma that was assaulting her a moment ago. She flashed a pair of starbolts at the backs of a retreating Elite. She started firing potshots at every chance she got, downing Covenant like they were paper targets. A Ghost tore out of the crowd, its engines glowing with the power of it's boost and its pilot, a Brute, firing a carbine one handed. Starfire floated low, just a few feet off the ground, ignoring the poorly aimed green shots.

The Ghost crashed into Starfire, but she didn't budge an inch. The Ghost flipped it's tail end up so far it was vertical for a second, and in that second Starfire lauched a pair of green eye lasers into it's hull, sending it flying back into the center of the arena. When it hit, it's power core violently exploded and set off a pair of fallen grenades nearby, which set off more grenades, and then more until the entire center of the arena was filled with violent, blue fire and now dead Covenant. Starfire giggled.

Starfire's maneuver finished off the lion's share of the Covenant. Everything that was left was simply retreating back or dying.

I jumped down, landing next to BeastBoy's elven frame. "You alright BeastBoy?"

"I'm fine, you?"

"I've been worse. Did you see where Control Freak went?"

BeastBoy's face went blank for a second. "Um, no dude, sorry."

"Don't worry about it, he can't have..." I trailed off. "Do you hear that?"

"What? Oh, naw, sorry dude, Starfire's uber-grenade blew the crap out of my ears." He spun a finger in said orifice.

"It's like a buzzing, a white noise." I take a few steps and focus on my ears, but am unable to pin point it.

"Whoa, I hear it now too. I think it's getting louder!"

I ignore him and focus on my lifesense, projecting outward, out and out to my maximum distance. What I sensed made my eyes snap open.

"Friends, look!" She pointed, we looked.

A swarm of drones flew down at us, at the very least fifty of them. I hefted my SMGs, Starfire charged bolts, BeastBoy shifted into an eagle.

We were all looking up, so we didn't see the tank shot coming. The blue charge arced over the wall and detonated on the interior of the wall, right next to Starfire. I didn't see her get hit, all I heard was a loud shriek and I turned to see her laying on the ground, face down.

A Wraith tank barrelled through the gate, smashing the doors aside like legos. It whirled around to face us, shots firing from it's side turrets as it's main gun zeroed in on a target. A small force of troops moved to back him up.

Behind the din of the drones, the screech of the hawk, and the shots of the tank I could faintly make out... laughing, coming from the Tank!

"That sonovubitch, he's in the fucking tank again!" I leapt at the vehicle but was buffeted away by a wave of suicidally loyal Drones. I slashed twice, killing three of them but they still stopped my jump.

BeastBoy flitted down, tearing at a Drone's eyes. It shrieked and clutched it's face. BeastBoy soared up again, a flock on his tail.

I once again made for the tank, but was forced into cover by a wall of sharp needles. I returned fire with my SMGs, tearing into the mass and making drones drop like hail.

A flicker near the tank, and more Drones popped into existence in midair. He was summoning more troops. Before I could move I saw him summoning general troops, Elites, Brutes and the like.

A pair of Ghost appeared at his sides and rushed me, trying to run me down. I stood my ground against the first one.

As soon as it got near, I drew the almost forgotten Energy Sword from my coat, spun, and drove it up to the hilt in the front of the craft. It drove past me for twenty feet before violently exploding, killing it's pilot.

The other Ghost opened fire, but I deflected the shot away with my blue glowing shield. As soon as it's burst was over I kicked off into a low jump. It boosted at me.

I stabbed my claw at it in mid jump, snagging the left exhaust port. I pivoted off of my hand and kicked the Elite pilot in the side, forcing him out of the vehicle, leaving me sitting his place.

That hadn't been my aim, but I rolled with it. I guessed at where the booster was located, was right, and rocketed off towards the tank, preparing myself.

BeastBoy was engaged in an aerial dogfight with about twenty five remaining Drones as Control Freak fired pot shots with his side turrets. I ramped off of a fallen crate, taking my hands off of the controls and pulling out my magnums and firing at the hatch on the tank, pock marking it's surface. The behemoth turned just as I had emptied my clips. I flicked out my arms, discarding the magnums and sliding the grenades in my sleeves out into my hands. I primed them and slapped the devices over the dashboard of the Ghost. I kicked off the foot pedals and out of the Ghost.

The hover cycle slammed right into the face of the tank, and then the grenades detonated, creating a sudden and violent explosion that sent the tank shooting back. I turned around to view my handiwork.

The only problem with the tank was that it had now lost it's hatch, exposing Control Freak's armored head. He shouted loudly "Nice try Titan, that almost got me. Looked really cool by the way. But you forget one thing, when you play Legendary on co-op, if one person goes down, you start all over, and it's usually the weakest one! And since that obviously isn't you..." He lowered himself, and turned his barrel on Starfire.

_"FUCK!" _I ran over to her, about halfway Control Freak fired a mini van sized glob of blue death. I forced energy into my legs, leaving behind long lines of blue energy. I dove...

...and scooped her up at the last possible second. I rolled aside as a wash of heat from the bomb baked the air around me. I then started running, miniature nukes going off just behind me as I carried Starfire to safety.

Another bomb, I jumped over a crate and landed heavily, hesitating almost long enough for me to catch the next blast full in the face. I change tactics and begin backpedaling, but he anticipates this and blocks my route with an explosion, so I resume my hurried dash.

A sudden pain in my hip, I'm hit! A bolt of plasma from a side turret. I skid to the ground, Starfire flying out of my arms and rolling away. I get back up and already Control Freak has fired a shot at her form.

I dash in, but I'm too late. I can't pick her up and dodge away in time, so I do what I do best; I take it.

My arm flashes up, hitting the front of the blast and grinding it against my make-shift shield. I grab my shield arm with my other arm to brace it, the blast stays still for a moment, and skips over me like a stone on a pond, detonating behind me in a plume of blue.

Another shot is already on the way. I jump up and meet this one in mid air, we grind again, the energy deforming under its own power. I'm pressed back down to the ground, my heels grinding on the stone.

A reaction, a sound. Control Freak's fired another shot! I look back, assuming he's trying to shoot under me, but no, he hits me again in the same spot, the energies lining up like a caterpillar of nuclear force.

BeastBoy finishes off the last of the Drones in the catwalks. He looks over, sees me and gapes, his voice full of amazement "Whoa..."

The energy charges warp against eachother, press, and then... combine. All of sudden I'm holding back twice the force, but I'm holding, barely. My proximity to the energy starts to peel away the skin on my face, but I just don't notice or care.

Another shot is fired, this one combining with the other two immediately. A crack forms in the metal of my shield, the material giving way under the onslaught. Another is fired, then another. I'm holding back a school bus sized charge power, and he keeps pouring on more and more electric blue energy.

_Blue energy grating off of blue energy._

My arm slips slightly.

_Blue grating off of blue._

Chips fly off my shield.

_Blue and Blue._

I start to slip back.

_BlueBlue_

My knees buckle.

_Blue._

My eyes widen, I gasp deeply.

"_Blue... BLUE... **BLUE!**"_

"aaaaaaauuu**uuuuuggg**GGGGGG**GHHHHHH!**" I scream, long and loud.

I push it back, righting my footing and grinding my heels in. I slide my shield down, away from the path of the energy, and lance out with a clawed fist.

Starfire behind me groaned into waking, and stared at my form, silouhetted against a field of electric blue.

The energy charge rebounds and soars back at what it came from, the front of the Wraith, a distorted oval shape of bright plasma.

I couldn't help it, I was grinning like a madman. The look on Control Freak's face was too perfect.

I lose sight ofControl Freak at the last possible second before the energy hits, and when it does it's fan-fucking-tastic.It explodes in a cone with the tank as the focal point of the energy. The plume of energy vaporized everything behind the tank for about a hundred yard, leaving nothing behind but a lot of smoke, some falling debris, and a small crater of scorched slag.

I stood where I struck the energy, my arm still extended in a punching gesture. My entire body exuded a small amount of smoke, my hair was fried, my coat was scorched, and my skin was red and peeling like a harsh sun burn. I was panting through a smiling mouth.

Starfire gingerly walked up and placed her hand on my shoulder. "...Is he... gone?"

"I'm not sure, I think so." I lowered my arm and retracted my claw.

A moment of silence.

"DUDE!" BeastBoy came out of _nowhere _and practically shouted in my ear. "That was so friggin awesome! With the thing, and the other thing, and the shot, and the explosion!" He made a gesture that could have been anexplosion. "So dang sweet dude!"

"Yes thank you, I just hope I didn't over do-"

My knee exploded.

I fell to one leg on the ground, letting out a long scream of pain. Three shots rattled out of the smoke and my other knee burst in a crimson splash. It hurt, a lot.

"Reaver!" Starfire leaned down to help me, a scared look on her face.

"NO! Get back!" Another three round bursttore into my chest. "AAUUGGGHHH!" Black started to creep onto the edges of my vision.

Another three round burst flew out of the smoke, mercifully missing all of us but came dangerously close to hitting BeastBoy. He morphed into a horse and bolted away from the fire.

Starfire grabbed my arm to pull me away, but I just pushed her aid away again and she rises up and out of the way. I rise up on unsteady, wobbly legs. I shoot my claw out over my hand and tick the blades against one another.

A bright purple Ghost barrels out of the smoke cloud, astride it is Control Freak in all his armored glory holding a smoking rifle in his hands. Parts of his plates are scorched but other than that he's perfectly fine.

I shout out "How the fuck did you survive that blast?"

He shouts back "Overshield bitch!" and rockets at me with the Battle Rifle still in his grip.

I jump up, but my legs still aren't healed, so I only manage about three feet off the ground. The front of the Ghost clips me in the shin, sending me into a rather comical midair spin that ends with a jaw shattering face plant with my ruinedlegs bent backwards over my head so my whole body's in a C shape. It'd be funny if it didn't happen to me.

Control Freak hits the brake and turns his vehicle on a dime. He lines up his bike with me and slams to boosters again.

A deep line is drawn in the concrete by a flash of green laser. Control Freak panics and hits the brakes, simultaneously turning his vehicle to the side to lose more speed. He spins once before coming to a halt.

He looks up to see a remarkably pissed off alien floating there, veritably throbbing with bright green anger.She spits out "J'kiul venjaat chlorfarker! N'mberuut de X'hal!"

"Sorry toots, I don't speak that alien language. Get back to me when you know Klingon." CF smirks under his helmet and hefts up his rifle, focusing on her through the scope.

A green elephant suddenly rises up in front of him, blocking his shot and almost making him crap himself. The pacaderm slams it's front legs onto the main mass of the Ghost, crushing the vehicle and bending it at an angle, catapulting Control Freak into the air.

He soars straight at Starfire, who already is rearing back for a punch. She shouts out "CLATTA SEREK'N MALADRIET REAVER DE X'HAL!" as loudly as she can before delivering a blow so strong thatthe concussion of ithurt my ears. Her starbolt charged fist tears through his shield in a bright flash, impacts his face, and shatters his helmet into a series of green fragments.

Control Freak is sent on a long screaming/squeling arc through the air. He hits the ground, bounces once, and then skids about fifty feet in a shower of sparksbefore slamming against a wall.

He groans loudly "Owww, that hurt you stupid alien whore!" He reaches to his belt and pulls out a familiar black remote. He fingers the button...

A green bolt flies in and strikes his arm, causing him to jerk and fling the remote aside. He reaches for it again but a purple boot slams down on his wrist.

He looks up to see Starfire standing there, green charged over her hands. A moment later BeastBoy lopes up and morphs back into elf form. Lastly, I approach limping like a bastard.

CF smiles weakly up at us. "Well, it looks like you've caught me Titans."

"So... what now?"

"Are you going to wait for your other friends to get us out of here? Or maybe try and crack the code on my remote?"

"Maybe you'll try and trick me into giving it to you?"

"...Say something."

"..." I grin slightly.

"... Oh crap..."

"SQUEL FOR ME PIGGY!"

"AAAUUUUGGGHHH!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, after one of the most satisfying beatings I have ever taken part in. 

Control Freak lies in a heap, beaten, bruised, swollen, but ultimately fine. The worst of it is a black eye from a rock he fell on when he tried to run away.

We all sit near his prone form, refreshed and clicking into the remote. Control Freak gave us the code for it after about seven minutes of pounding.

Starfire clicks out the code "1-3-3-7, I believe that is it!"

"Groovy" A minute "... why isn't anything happening?"

"Gimme a minute." I walk over to CF and roughly grabbed his collar"Hey fatass, why isn't the code working, do I have to-

There was a bright flash of light.

"-slap you around... some... more?" I trailed off as I looked around at our surroundings.

It was a temple, a crumbling and over grown temple. Beutifully carved pillars were nearby that held up a pair of platforms that led nowhere and a broke section of wall supported a corner piece and platform of marble, a broken section jutted out of the ground ahead at a slightly different angle than the ground. Another shattered cornerpiece formed a solid, square piece of rock. All of this was over grown with ivy and lichen.

Oh, and did I mention that the entire place was floating A MILE OFF THE DAMN GROUND!

I took a deep breath of the oxygen thin air and looked around again to make sure it was real. I shook myself out of my reverie "Control Freak, where in the name of Odin are we?"

"The program has to run through all the simulations before it can make a link with the real world. The remote will recharge and zap us to another world in a little bit, after that it will take less and less time until we reenter the real world. Please don't hurt me!" I grimaced and threw him down to the stone tile.

"Okay, false alarm guys. I think we're fine, the remote just moves us into one world after another until it gets to the real world. If we're lucky, we won't even see anything."

"Uh dude, I guess we aren't lucky then." He points.

Hopping on top of the shattered cornerpiece is a young girl with blonde hair wearing an ankle lengthred dress. Her face is blank as she stares at us and hops down onto our side.

"Shit, okay, Starfire you guard Control Freak and make sure he doesn't try anything. We can assume that she's hostile so BeastBoy, your with me." He nods and we start to run.

BeastBoy assumes the form of a Rhino and rushes the girl, hoping to take her down fast.

She folds up her arm and leans back, in the process summoning forth a bright fiery mote of light. The mote flies at BeastBoy, who easily dodges to the side. While the mote is at his side the girl swings forward with a slight cry and the shot explodes, rocketing BeastBoy to the side and into a broken section of wall.

I keep going with my charge and lunge claw first, but I'm buffeted back by a spray of crystal shards that she summons when she flails her arms to the side. I wince and start to heal to many cuts from the flurry of crystals, focusing mainly on my now blind eye.

I reach under my coat and draw my half loaded SMG, emptying it at her. All of my bullets however are stopped by a translucent red shield that forms over her body when I draw my gun. As I pour bullets into it, the shield slowly shrinks, but not enough for me to be able to hit her.

I toss the empty gun aside and just then take notice of the rapidly expanding shadow over my form. I look up and my eyes bug out.

A giant red-furred cartoonish monkey with a slightly pointy headand a red tie is falling down on me feet first. Suddenly a green monkey flies from behind me and shoulder slams into it, sending the two of them flying over the shattered cornerpiece.

I turn my attention back on the blonde girl, who is now running at me. She jumps up and pulls her arms back again, summoning another fiery charge. I rush up and past the mote, barely avoiding the ensuing explosion. I slug her in the gut callously. She slides back a few feet, clutching at her gut and grimacing. She recovers in and instang though and ison me as fast as lightning.

She thrusts her hands forward and there's an odd sparkle, and suddenly I'm knocked back. She uppercuts with another sparkle and I'm knocked skyward.

I right myself and swing around for my landing.She points up gingerly with a sparkling finger, and then the space above her is a burst of smoke and fire. I fall through the flames with no real harm, but she uses my momentary blindness to grab me with her powers.

I float at arms reach, paralyzed as she slowly rotates her hands, holding me in place. With a slight gesture she sends a pulse of power through me, shocking me into wincing. Then she charges her hands, works them around, and flings me behind her at a wall with telekinesis. I tear through brick and mortar, shake my head and stumble back up.

I'm pissed off. "Alright bitch, no more games!" I shake a layer of dust off of myself and drop into a fighting stance.

She looks at me, smirks, and spins. There's an odd chiming sound effect and she morphs from a little girl in a red dress with long blonde hair, to what seems like a well builtboy in a high collared unitard with an odd, eye-like design on the front.

"...What the hell?" I mutter.

He/She produces a fan of throwing knives from nowhere and flings them in rapid succession. I duck low, under the majority of the projectiles, but nevertheless a knife buries itself up to the hilt in my arm. Ignoring it, I rush forward with my claw.

Before I can blink he throws something at his feet and there's yet another burst of smoke and fire. I fly through the miasma and swing, striking nothing but air.

I look puzzled for a moment before I'm jerked back by a razor bladed chain wrapped around my neck.

I gasp and clutch at the chain that leads back to the hand of the gender bending ninja. He jerks the chain and I drag with it. Blood is running down my neck from the lacerations. I grab for the chain, get a hold, and yank on it.

That stands out as one of my Top Twenty Worst Ideas Ever. My hand drags along the blades of the chain, tearing it up and ripping up muscle. I scream in pain, giving him the chance to flash in and kick my side, flipping me onto my stomach.

The ninja plants a foot on the small of my back and _yanks, _almost pulling my head off. I would scream if I had the vocal cords. I'm bleeding to death and being strangled at the same time. My mind races for a solution.

I clutch the knife in my arm and painfully tear it out, finding out about the cruel barbs on the blade in the process. I flip it around and stab at his leg. It's an awkward angle but I'm dead on in my blow. The blade tip pierces his skin and-

FLASH

-I'm laying on the ground in a coral blue building, Starfire, BeastBoy, and Control Freak standing nearby, looking as confused as I am.

"DAMMIT!" is what I shout, but it really only comes out as a wet gurgle because my throat is still cut. I do a quicky heal on that and continue. "I almost had him!"

Control Freak snorts and leans against the wall"Had him? I saw the whole thing. You got the crap kicked out of you." A throwing knife suddenly buries itself up to the hilt in the wall next to his head. "... Shutting up now."

I continue "Where the hell were you BeastBoy? You were supposed to be my back up!"

BeastBoy crossed his arms "Oh I'm sorry. I was fighting a giant red monkey. I'm sorry I thought you could handle a little girl in a pink dress."

"It was a red dress fuckass, and I would have had her if I had a little more time. If I had been there ten seconds longer I would be cleaning that whore's brains off my shoe."

"Friends..."

"Oh really, I saw the fight too Reaver. You got your butt kicked."

"If you saw the whole fight, then why didn't you help?"

"Like I said, I was too busy fighting the GIANT MONKEY!"

"Friends... Please..."

"YOU CAN TURN INTO A GIANT MONKEY, HOW COULD THAT ONE BE A PROBLEM?"

"IT WAS REALLY GOOD GIANT MONKEY!"

"**FRIENDS!**" Starfire shouted at the top of her lungs.

We were silent.

"Do you not hear that?"

Both BeastBoy and I piqued our ears, and our eyes widened.

"Crap."

"Fuck."

Then the wall exploded inward.

We shielded ourselves from various pieces of debris and looked through the hole in time to see a man with spiky blonde hair and the largest sword in recorded history fly through it and swing at me.

I danced back and then ducked when he brought it around for another chop. A starbolt flew in and impacted his chest, forcing him back. I dashed forward under his reach and swung my claw, but all I did was scratch the broadside of his blade.

Suddenly I felt a murderously powerful impact on the back of my skull that put spots in my vision. Whoever hit me used my head as a leverage point and handsprung off of my cranium. I looked up in time to see fly past mea woman with hip length mahogany hair andanobscenely enormous rack, a part which got my attention for a full two seconds after she landed, and drop into a solid fighting stance. I noticed CF making googly eyes at her.

Both of them were suddenly swatted away by a long dinosaur tail that crushed them against the wall, eliciting pained gasps from both assailants. Starfire and BeastBoy moved to engage them before they could recover.

A third man drifted up through the hole in the wall. He got my attention.

His right hand was covered in a pointy golden gauntlet. A red bandana held back a fountain of obsidian hair and shadowed his blackeyes. The rest of him was shaded either black or a dark brown, save a tattered red cape that was draped around his person. He moved carefully, measured andpurposeful.He was... creepy.

We stared eachother down for a solid twenty seconds as the battle raged around us. I finally spoke. "Hello, my name is Reaver, and I'll be kicking your ass today."

"Eloquent." he said in a voice fricking made out of ice. He pointed a three barrelled pistol at me, "My name is-

FLASH

Silence around us for a moment. I looked around at my companions in my very dank surroundings. It was dark save a pair of flickering torches nearby on the crumbling walls.

From nowhere in particular a fatman with a chainsaw an dirty sack over his head lunges for me. I'm faster though, and I stab my claw all the way to the fingers in his face. The man growls and swings his chainsaw, heedless of the long blades buried in his face. I swung around him to avoid losing my arm and clutched the side of his head. With a grung I tore my claw through the main mass of his skull, finishing him off.

Starfire shouted out "Reaver, behind you!"

I whipped around and swung blindly at head level, and decapitated a man who was coming up behind me with a long knife. His body slumped down to the ground with a dull thud. "Is everyone okay?" I got a pair of assurances and a chuckle in response.

I nodded my head at Control Freak "Hey, what's so funny?"

He chuckled again and pointed at the decapitated corpse. "You shouldn't have done that man. You really shouldn't have done that."

"Huh?"

Suddenly I was knocked to the ground by the headless corpse flying at me that had along snake like worm coming out of the stump. I screamed in fright and surprise.

Starfire lunged forward and grabbed the man-thing's back and pulled him up. The worm thing whipped around and wrapped around her neck with a creepy slithering sound. I pulled myself up and swung my claw, slicing the head off of the worm but it didn't stop flailing. Starfire was screaming bloody murder. BeastBoy was desperately grabbing at the slimy thing.

The worm righted itself and plunged down Starfire's throat, disappearing with a wet gurgle. I lunged for the tip to pull it out-

FLASH

-and barrel my two friends down to the ground.

I bolt up to my feet and inspect my new environment. A giant room with a huge transparent domed ceiling and wall. A man in black robes stands about fifty feet away from us with his back to us. Outsidepast himI see abeutiful view of outer space and a few passing ships. Starfire is coughing up thick globs of worm slime.

The figure turns around revealing a white mask with a black stripe running down the center and a pair of red bits resembling eyebrows. He reached forward, and lightning tore out of the palm of his hand.

BeastBoy and Starfire managed to get out of the way, mostly because the lightning only went for me and not them. I don't know if you've every been hit with lightning but it's kind of cool right before it hurts, which it does, it hurts a shit ton.

All I remember of the next twenty seconds is lying on the ground paralyzed while my companions battled on around me. I was just regaining the feeling in my limbs so I sat up and shot out my-

FLASH

-claw amidst a large mass of rubble and a dark stormy sky.

I scanned around, nerves on edge for any more threats.

Nearby isa girl, a very familiar girl with blonde hair and a dress, a white one now. She scowls at me.

"Oh god, not you again! Leave me alone!" I cry out and scurry away. I turn behind me to see a fifteen foot tall bipedal, pig/bull demon monster holding two enormousswords roar loudly and swing at a green wolf.

There's an explosion on his face from a hurled starbolt and he swats at Starfire quickly, missing her but shattering a large piece of debris nearby. From the debris a few bright red valentines hearts drift out.

I ignore that and get ready to pounce-

FLASH

-and then stop as all of a sudden I'm staring straight at an enormous and scary looking Cyclops with a club.

The beast raises the club to crush me but is knocked aside when a jade goat leaps and slams him full in the face. The beast lumbers back and falls on his rear, and is then pummeled with an aerial barrage of starbolts. Control Freak is standing off from the fight.

I turn my attention away from themonster and look behind me and standing there is a goatee'dman with red swirling tattoos all over his body and face holding a pair of single edged short swords that are attached to his wrists by a length of chain. He screams and whips them around at me, making a nimbus of steel around his body.

I leap up and over the weapons and stab forward with my claw.

He stops me dead in midair, an impressive feat, by threading his hands between the blades of my claw, effectively making my strike worthless. He grips my fingers and grimaces with rage.

"AARREESS!" He shouts as he pulls to the sides and splits my hand like he's tearing paper, and I scream in agony. He releases my hand and I fall down, clutching my ruined hand as blood seeps through my fingers.

"AAAAUUUUG-

FLASH

-GGGHHH!" I start healing my hand, but it still really hurts.

My hand stops bleeding after a few seconds and I finally look up to see-

FLASH

-a man in full plate holding a greatsword standing in front of me, his blade has an eye set into the side. He rears back to swing, I raise my claw to block-

FLASH

-a blow that never comes because I'm now standing in front of an odd human-like creature that's covered in blood with a pale squishy monster on his head. Without thinking I slash the mass of it and-

FLASH

-stumble down to the ground as I trip over a chair. It's dark now, except for a small light nearby. I see BeastBoy next to me now for some reason. I notice a trio of small green lights next to his head and the barrel of a gun slowly being pressed against his temple. I cry out and dash forward-

FLASH

-straight in front of Donald Duck as he points a stick at me and shoots fire. I brace myself and-

FLASH

-ninjas, hundreds of them, everywhere around me, all at once the run and throw-

FLASH

-a red haired woman biting a man in nazi uniform's neck. She turns to me and-

FLASH

-a guy on a skateboard runs into me. His shirt reads "Team Hawk". I start to apologize-

FLASH

-and an orc swings an axe at me. I grimace instictively and-

FLASH

-a hooker in front of me is torn up by bullets from a car window.

FLASH

A dozen or so supersonic cars dash past me.

FLASH

A man in a-

FLASH

Two women-

FLASH

A-

FLASH

-

FLASH

FLASH

FLASH

I'm standing there, waiting for the next flash with my eyes closed. After a moment I tentatively open an eye.

I see Robin standing there, arms folded with a slight smirk on his face. I look around tentatively and see my two companions and one hostage.

I quickly say "BeastBoy, do the Titans have a video game?"

"I don't think so."

"Thank god, we're home!" I shout with an upward thrust of my arms.

"Heeheehee!" Starfire giggles and claps her hands lightly. "Jubilation!"

"About time!" BeastBoy sighs deeply and then looks at Control Freak"How many games do you play anyway dude?"

"Not enough." A police officer grabs his hands behind his back roughly and cuffs him, pushing him toward the open door. "This isn't over Titans! Not by a longshot, I'll be back with bigger, better games, and you'll never escape! You hear me! NEVER!" The rest of his rant was lost to the echoes of the hallway.

Robin finally speaks up. "It's good to see you three back."

"Good to be back Robin, is the prison situation taken care of?"

"Of course it is Reaver, don't worry about it."

"I'm really sorry I wasn't there man." I shook my head "I shouldn't have fallen for such an obvious trap."

"Happens to the best of us. Don't get too worked up about it."

"Thanks. Hey, how come I feel great?" I looked down at myself and realised that I was wearing the coat I got digitized with, the one I distinctly remember getting destoyed by a grenade.

"When you get digitized, you go in and out exactly the same but with all the memories of what happened. Your guns will have the exact same number of bullets as when you went in. Your wounds heal up, your clothes are fixed, your even as tired as you were when you went in. You get hungrier though, it's weird."

"Well, I definately know about the hungrier thing." I grabbed at my stomach and a growl came out of the empty organ.

"Yeah."

"Where's Raven at?"

"She went back to the tower a few hours ago, said she was tired."

The door burst open andmy favorite metal teenager walked in. He looked at the three of us. "Boo Yah! Ya'll are back!"

"Don't we know it."

He slapped me on the back. "You guys were kicking ass and taking names in there. I gotta admit, I'm a little jealous."

I had a puzzled look on my face. "Wait, you guys were watching us?"

"Oh yeah. Check it out." He went over to a monitor and hit a button on the display, and on the TV I saw the blast of energy I bounced back destroy Control Freak's Wraith tank. "CF recorded everything on a bunch of roaming cameras and was doing a live feed to a bunch of internet sites. I cut the feed after about an hour though."

"So wait, the entire time we were in there was recorded."

"On thirteen different cameras." He clicked the remote and I saw the tank fight from over a dozen angles.

I took a moment to contemplate this. "Cool."

Robin spoke up once again. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm more than ready to get home."

"Ditto."

"Indeed."

"Aw yeah."

"Hell yes."

* * *

The doors to the lounge opened and I felt like a new man, albeit an excessively tired one. 

I threw my coat onto the counter and and opened the fridge, emerging a minute later with about ten pounds of food. I flopped down on the couch and tore into my food.

Cyborg and BeastBoy walked in a few seconds after I was done. BeastBoy was relating a story of what went on in the video game machine.

"And then I turned into a Rhino see, and I smashed into the Spectre!"

"Um, BB, you know I was watching the whole thing right?"

"Oh, so you already know."

"Uh, no, that never happened little man."

"Pfft, forget you man, you just weren't paying attention. Man, I'm starving!" BeastBoy went over to the kitchen.

"Hey, while your eating, you want to play a little bit?" Cyborg held up a game controller.

"Uh, no way dude, I've had enough video games for today. I think the new Maxim came in today, I'm gonna read that."

"Suit yourself. Hey Reaver, you up for some dawg?"

"No way, I'm beat. I'm taking a nap. Keep the volume on that thing down or I'm gonna turn that controller into a choking hazard."

"Geez, touchy. Don't worry, I won't interrupt your beauty nap."

I laid back on the cushion and closed my eyes when I heard a slight chuckle from BeastBoy. He hadn't even opened the magazine.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just thinking about earlier today. When Star melted your communicator, I thought that you running around was kind of funny."

"Really...?" I lunged.

BeastBoy fell to the ground clutching his side "AAAHH! MY KIDNEY!"

I leaned back on the couch "Ahh... good to be home."


	41. Making up

"Robin, he's headed north!" I all but shouted into my communicator.

"I know!" came a sharp reply over the device.

The bald man continued his retreat down the alleyway, completely oblivious to the fact that Robin was leaping over the rooftops above him.

Said Boy Wonder swung down on a grapple line and hurled a bolo, wrapping up the man's legs and sending him to the ground with a satisfying scream. Robin perched on the ground near his feet and turned around to look at me. "Good work Reaver. We're done here."

"Not quite!" I leapt up and over Robin, slamming my full weight on the bald man's forearm, forcing him to let go of the pistol he drew from his side. I stepped off of him and he curled up with his broken arm. I turned to Robin "You owe me a drink."

He narrowed his eyes "Let's just go back to the Tower."

"What, we're all done?"

"That was the last of the escapees who are still in the city. C'mon, we need to get leads on the convicts who ran when Control Freak incited that breakout."

"And so ends three glorious days of chasing down local toughs and thugs. It'll be nice to get home, I gotta feed my cats."

"I think Starfire said she was going to do it, oh and also:" Robin whipped around, flinging a birdarang. The hurled weapon arced in and smacked the gun that was aimed at my back out bald man's hand again. Another birdarang flew in and struck him flatside, knocking the man unconscious.

Robin caught and folded up his birdarangs. He turned around and smirked.

I blinked "...Okay, that was one determined jewel thief."

"Heh, let's go home."

* * *

Cyborg was sitting at the computer in the lounge, typing away. Suddenly he jumps up andthrust his arms into the air "BOO YAH, I got'em."Robin and I stroll in, arguing. Cyborg called out "Hey Fearless, sweet news!" 

"All I'm saying is that you didn't need to fling that birdarang. I had him."

"He was aiming right at you Reaver, he would have blown a hole through your chest."

"Hey guys..."

"History has proven that I can survive that Robin, meanwhile those birdarangs passed within half an inch of my neck. If you where off a little bit I would have a head, and _that _I can't heal."

"Yo, guys..."

"I never miss."

"Until you do, that is."

"Guys..."

"I felt it was worth the slim chance that my aim would have been off enough to slice off your head to save you from unnecessary pain.

"My existence is unnecessary pain Robin. And where two of them really necessary? Couldn't you have taken him out with one?"

"Well what about you, huh? You broke his arm, and didn't we have a talk about excessive use of force."

"GUYS!" Cyborg shouts, hands cupped around his mouth.

"What?""What?"

Cyborg points at the computer with his thumb. "I just got a lead."

"Oh, great.

"Kickass."

"Why didn't you say something Cyborg?"

The metal man sighs and rubs his metal skull "No reason, c'mon." He turned himself back to the computer consoles.

Robin leaned in and looked over the text "So who do you have?"

"Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth. I think they're headed north."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because a Taco Bell and a Rally's in Pennsylvania and a Subway in New York reported an enormous red haired man accompanied by a small angry looking child stealing armfuls of food and loading it into a hovering car, according to the police reports."

"Oh."

I looked over Cyborg's shoulder at the data readout. "So they're headed to Canada I assume."

"That would be my guess."

"We'll have to put together an away team to gather them back up."

"Why don't we let some local talent mop it up. I think Huntress or Black Canary or some other superpoweredhot chick was up there recently."

"No, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx escaped from our prison and out from our jurisdiction, they're our responsibility. I'll have to put together an away team to retrieve them."

"Well, tell me how it goes." I threw myself down on the couch and grabbed the remote.

Robin rubbed his chin, "Actually, this seems like a really good chance for you Reaver."

I screeched to a halt. "Gwah?"

"Your powers seem like they would be really good for a wilderness environment, and this would be valuable experience for you."

"But... I just got back from kicking ass, and your already sending me out again? That's bullshit! Your running me ragged!"

"Calm down Reaver, it's not like your going by yourself. Cyborg and Raven will be going with you."

"Your missing the point Robin, I haven't slept in two days and the last thing I ate was half a hotdog sixteen hours ago!"

"Eat a sandwich, take a nap and get over yourself. Your leaving tomorrow and that is final." He spun around. "Honestly, I'm surprised with you Reaver, I thought for sure that you would jump at the chance to make up for your mistake at the prison."

"...What?"

"Well, you said it yourself. It is your fault that you, Starfire, and BeastBoy fell into Control Freak's trap, if that hadn't happened probably nobody would have escaped from the prison."

I glared daggers at Robin, not because he was blaming me for Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx getting out, but rather because the jerk was right. I scowled slightly and walked out the door to the stairs.

Robin turned towards his computer and started typing again for a moment, stopped, and looked up at Cyborg who was staring at him "What?"

"N-nothin' man, absolutely nothin'."

* * *

The next morning. 

"We're taking THAT?"

I'm talking about an enormous orange craft. Streamlined plates of metal and five pods on it's surface. Cyborg's second favorite creation, the T-Ship.

"Yeah, of course we are.Why wouldn't we?" Says Cyborg as he starts clicking around on a diagnostic.

"No reason, no reason at all. So I take it we're flying?"

"Yup, my baby is all prepped and ready to go."

"... Can't we take the T-Car."

"Nah, it would take too much time, we wanna find those three and now."

"But wouldn't moving on the ground be a lot more thorough?"

"Not with this thing's sensors, I can tell if a dime on the pavement is heads or tails a mile up. We won't miss a thing."

"Nnngh." I nervously wring my hands and look up at the enormity of the T-Ship.

I felt a soft touch on my leg. I looked down to see a pair of cats rubbing against my leg.

I bent down and scratched their heads "No sorry guys, you can't come with. I don't think there's enough room on the T-Ship and,truth be told,I don't want to have to clean up after you two. Stay around Starfire, she'll take care of you. Now go play." The two animals bounded away.

A hand slaps me on the back "You ready for this?"

I turn around and see a green changeling standing behind me. I nervously say "I-I guess."

"Hey, no reason to be nervous man. I know the thing can be pretty scary to look at, but it's really nothing big. After a few minutes you get over it, and it can even be pretty cool.

"I'm not gonna have to fly it... am I?"

"Probably not. C'mon, I'll help you get strapped in."

I started to follow after him "Wait, what do you mean probably?"

* * *

We were about twenty minutes into our flight when Cyborg said "Hey Reaver,do you want to learn how to fly this thing?" 

"Now?" I cried over the radio, looking around at the tops of clouds.

"Yeah man, I saw how you handled that Phantom in Halo and I thought, Dang now that's a guy who knows how to handle aircraft."

"But Cyborg, that thing had a control stick and five buttons, all of which were clearly marked. This thing has, perhaps every single lever and button in existence."

"Don't let it scare you, it's simple to fly, really. It only took me two weeks to teach BeastBoy."

"Nah, I'd really rather not. I sorta got a thing about heights over a thousand feet."

"...Seriously?"

I nodded my head. "Sorry Cyborg, but I have trouble relaxing when all that's keeping me from falling to my splattery death is a few feet of metal and thin layer of glass."

"Oh... well, I'll try and keep us a little low. Honestly, I never would have guessed man, you hide it well."

"Um, yeah thanks." As I spoke I looked down at the small dent I had formed in the floor of my compartment by tapping my foot rapidly and the finger shaped impressions I made in the underside of my seat. "How much further do we have to go anyways?"

"A few hours at the least."

"Nnngh, dammit all. So much for sleep."

In her pod Raven smirks and flips a page in her book.

* * *

"C'mon you two, hurry up!" shouted Mammoth as he pushed his way through a patch of dense undergrowth. 

"Slow down Mammoth, we can't just power our way through allthis like you can." Jinx nimbly hopped down off of a tree branch and landed on a patch of rock.

"Pff, speak for yourself crudmuncher." As Gizmo picked his footing with his set of large, unsettling robo-arachnid legs.

Jinx snapped her finger with a flare of purple light, and unluckily one of Gizmo's legs slipped and the little genius landed face first in a large patch of mud.

He was back up in an instant, beady little eyes glaring hate at Jinx. "What the crud was that for!"

"For being a twit. Mammoth, are you sure this is the way to the rendezvous point?"

"Of course I'm sure! I can smell her perform already. Hurry up!" Mammoth starts slogging through the dense wilderness at a quickened pace, Jinx jogs up behind him.

Gizmo raises himself back up and begins rubbing gunk off of himself and his equipment. He wipes a layer off of a display on his controller just in time to see a large blue blip quickly moving towards the central position. His eyes widen "Crammit! Guys, we got trouble!"

* * *

"Okay Reaver, my turn. I spy with my little eye, something green."

"Trees."

"Damn, that's the third time in a row. How do you keep doing that?"

"Because it was dirt last time, and sky the time before it. That's all that's out here. I'll admit though, I almost said Raven when you said something blue."

"Keep me out of your asinine little game." As Raven flipped another page of her novel.

Before I could hit Cyborg with my next try something started beeping on my console. "What the hell-?"

Cyborg looked down at his monitor "Aww shit-missiles, and lots of 'em. Hold on everybody!" Cyborg choked the control stick and slammed down the thrusters, causing a somewhat familiar lurch of my seat. I grabbed onto my pods jesus bar and pulled myself up.

Raven droned over the radio "Well, I guess we found them."

"Cyborg, what's the plan?"

He responded to me through gritted teeth "We out run them. Those are short range missiles, they'll run out of fuel long before us."

"If they're short range, then how did they fire them without us seeing them with the sensors?"

"They must have cloaked themselves, seems like something Gizmo would be carrying around."

"They _cloaked _themselves, since when are they allowed to do that!"

Cyborg flipped the ship into a vertical and actually weaved in between a set of large redwoods, forcing most of the missiles to slam into the trunks, but the maneuver cost him a whole lot of speed and I could pick out individual missiles at this point.

"Oh fuck...um... Raven! What should we do?" There was no response "Raven?" when I turned towards her I saw that her hood was up and her eyes were glowing a hot gray.

Behind us, several of the missiles were covered in a layer of obsidian and crashed into one another, creating another deafening, explosive roar. My teeth rattled in my head.

"Good work Raven, but there's still a few left on us, can you do anything about them?"

"Maybe... if you stop talking and let me concentrate." She rubbed her temples.

I sat in my pod, feeling somewhat nauseous, terrified, and useless. I was staring intently ahead when I saw a red and yellow blur bounce off of the top of our ship. Then we were falling...

I don't really have solid recollection of the next few seconds, there was a whole lot of yelling and breaking and sliding. It's all just a blur to me. The one thing that I know for sure is that we abruptly ran into something solid enough to not get knocked down and I flew forward andgotslammedinto the cock pit bubble, which opened up a few seconds later.

A solid minute later I groggily crawled my way up and out of the crashed ship,goose egg of abump on myhead. If I hadn't been strapped in I would have painted the inside of the ship with my brains.

I stumbled over to Cyborg, where he was fiddling with some mechanical thing on the side of the ship. "Ugh... what happened?"

"We crashed." He looked me up and down "You okay dawg?"

"Define okay, if it means will I live then yes, I'm okay."

"Glad to hear it." He looked around at the crashed ship and the five hundred foot long trough we carved through the trees. "Could have been way worse, especially if Raven hadn't detonated the last of those missiles in time, we would have been toast."

"Where's Raven anyway." I rubbed my head as the lump started to recede.

"In her pod, she's fine." He started to yank on a panel "My computer says that there was a problem with the fuel supply, that's why we crashed. If I can... get this... hrrk... panel off. We can see whats wrong. DAH!" He jolted back as the panel gave way and practically flew off, and a thick dark brown ooze came out of the hole.

I leaned close "Is that what I think it is?" I hesitantly dipped a finger into the substance and foolishly licked it, and my eyes widened. "It is! It's chocolate pudding!"

"Say what!"

"You built a space ship that runs on chocolate pudding, you sir, are my fucking hero."

"It doesn't run on chocolate pudding! It runs on hydrogen suspended in a high density liquid fuel! How in the name of god did this get in here?" He was gesturing wildly at the large mass of delicious dessert.

Then Cyborg was blasted to the side by a sudden flash of laser, and then I was blasted in the opposite direction by a bright surge of pink.

I skidded to a halt in the dirt staring up at a small child suspended above me by an array of spider legs. "Hey scumsucker, ready for some payback." He stabbed a spider leg down at me, which punched through my arm at the shoulder, another one came in and tore through my other shoulder.Gizmo lowered himself to face level "Not so tough now are ya?"

"Nnngh, I decided that the next time I saw you... I would give a free shot. And that was it." I swept up my legs and wrapped them around his mid section, and squeezed.

"Augh!" He hit a switch on his control and engaged his jet pack, flying out of my grip. I spun myself up to my feet, already healing to hole in my shoulder.

Gizmo flipped himself around and landed on the ground, jet pack and legs undeployed. He grinned and hit a switch and a series of armor plates slid onto his body from his pack. A pair of barrels came out of his arms.

I charged my shield and set it in front of me, ready to deflect.

Mammoth ran in from my blindside and shoulder checked me, which meant that I went flying a good forty feet and struck the side of a tree.

"Hey crudhog, he was mine."

"Not anymore he's not, you take that metal guy."

"Aww why do I always have to fight Cydork, where's our wildcard anyways?"

Mammoth grinned wide. "Who do you think's got the krueger-wannabe."

"A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!" shouted Jinx as she flipped over boulder hurled by black telekinesis, and then narrowly dodged a beam of sonic cannon shot.

A spray of lasers pelted against Cyborg, forcing him to shield himself with his arms. When he lowered his arms he got a faceful of charging Mammoth.

Jinx flung a fistful of hex that caused a mass of metal underneath Raven to swell upward and burst into a spray of shards. The blue sorceress floated up out of it's range and sent a pair of ethereal black talons at Jinx.

She jumped over one, but the other plucked her out of midair upside down. "Ack!"

Raven lifted the villainess up to face level "Why do we have to go through this every time?"

"Because it's fun!" She then let out a big wet raspberry, spraying spittle all over Raven's face.

Raven grimaced and flung Jinx aside, but the pink witch agilely spun in midair and skidded to a balanced halt on her platform shoes. "What's a matter blue girl, don't like my lip gloss?"

"Ugh, raspberrys, never gonna get that taste out of my mouth." Raven spun and flung another blast.

It was around this time that I was finally getting coherent again. I stood up, fully alert already. I saw the fight a short distance off and would have ran in to join, but there was a very attractive strawberry blonde in front of me wearing a a red with yellow stripe jumpsuit on and she was... gifted is the most gentlemanly term for it.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" I shot out my claw

"Latest and greatesH.I.V.E graduate, Shimmer." She lightly tossed a pair of small rocks. "You must be Reaver, the one who beat my brother and his friends all at once..." Her face went stony "Nobody hurts my big brother."

"Prove it." I assumed a low defensive stance.

She assumed a bizarre martial arts stance, and flung the rocks atme. As soon as the left her hand they transformed into roiling balls of lava.


	42. Crazy Crap Happening Everywhere

_"Holy fuck!" _

I threw myself down to the ground to avoid the balls of raw heat, and luckily succeeded. I planted my palms on the ground and pushed, propelling myself into the air. I flipped and came down with a devastating heel strike right where Shimmer was standing.

The strawberry blonde narrowly side stepped and spun, bringing her foot around at my head. She connected and knocked me away.

I spun and corrected my footing, none the worse for wear and was back on her in a second. "So what are you? Some sort of heat controller?"

She slid to the side and ducked, avoiding a downwards swipe and it's horizontal followup "Hardly, I'm a matter transmuter."

"What the hell is that?" I jabbed at her with my claw, an attack which she ducked under.

"This." She placed her gloved hand on the ground, and in a warm glow, the dirt under my feet turned into glass, greased glass. I lost my already tentative balance as my feet slid out the edges of the plate of glass. Shimmer grinned and stood up into a powerful hip kick.

I rocketed back from the blow as the air in my lungs vacated. My back slammed into a nearby tree.

I steadied my shaky legs as I forced a gulp of air into my lungs, wiping at my mouth with my sleeve as I talked. "Not bad darlin', not bad at all. So what is that? You turn stuff into other stuff?"

"If you want to simplify it that much, yeah, that's it."

"Good to know." I pushed off of the tree behind me and flew at her feet first.

She bent over backwards onto her hands, effectvely ducking underneath my attack, and I landed right behind her. Coiled up like a spring as she was, she had a perfect shot for hitting me in the head with a hail-mary arc of her feet.

I stopped the force of her hit with my hands, and grabbed her foot, looking down with a sick grin on my face. She uselessly tugged at her limb.

"Alley Oop!"

I twisted her foot and sent her into a rapid pinwheel. She touched down on the ground hands first and spun into an odd, whirling breakdance... thing that ended with her booted heel sweeping my feet out from under me.

She sniggered "Oop that."

I slammed onto the ground and started to roll away to put some distance between us and vaulted myself up.

In a blink she was halfway to me before I landed.

_"She's fast..."_

My guard was down for a second after my landing, and in that second she transmuted the gloves of her outfit into a thin sheath of metal, making the five punches shemachine gunnedinto my abdomen a hell of a lot harder.

_"Really fast!"_

I finally found my balance and swung my claw at her, but the blades grated off of her arm, the clothing over which had transmuted into a thin layer of titanium. She took advantage of my miscalculation and uppercutted me square in the chin. I staggered back.

There was a brief respite, the first in about two minutes of fighting.

She shook her hand "Ow... what is your jaw made of? Metal?"

"Naw, just piss and vinegar." I wiped at steady flow of blood from my mouth and started repairing my teeth.

"God, fighting you is like fighting a brick."

"Well, thanks for the compliment darlin'."

She looked confused for a second. "...You seem pretty calm for someone who's losing the fight."

"I ain't losing nothing."

"Bullshit, I'm way faster than you and you know it."

"Speed does not a victory make sweets, that's the first thing you should be learnin'."

"Oh yeah? And what does make a victory?"

"Well..." I crouched back and down, and dug my hand into a felled tree behind me "...power for one." With a growl I swung my arm over my head and hurled the felled tree at my opponent.

She gracefully leapt over the plant, which then went flying a good hundred feet away, and rolled to a stop only a few feet behind Raven, who promptly coated it in a layer of onyx and swung it like a club at a flipping and dodging Jinx.

"Rrrr... stay still!" threatened Raven through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, that's what I'll do." Jinx faded back out of the reach of the log as it swept by. In the nano second that Jinx was hidden behind the log, she disappeared from Raven's view. The dark girl's face turned to a mask of confusion and she looked around.

"Yoo hoo..." Raven whirled around just as Jinx leapt off of the trunk that was suspended in the air and crushed her platform shoe into Raven's face. Jinx grinned like a cheshire cat as she flipped down the ground and nimbly landed in a crouch.

Raven tumbled to the ground, bounced once, and skidded to a stop. She looked up with a groan of pain, clutching her temple.

Jinx was already flying at her in another double heel kick. Raven rolled along the ground, narrowly getting out of the way of the strike and rose to a crouch. "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Raven pointed her hands at the ground and a bubble of black telekinesis rose out of the dirt at Jinx's feet and popped violently, knocking the pink witch on her duff.

Jinx kipped herself up in about a second, but in that second Raven launched a long flash of darkness.

Jinx spun away and flicked out her hand, sending a hex bolt that warded Raven back. Jinx shouted "Crap, this is taking too long. Mammoth! Where's that sister of yours?"

"Grrr, she'll be here!" He said through clenched teeth, as he and Cyborg pressed against one another's locked hands. "And when she does, you losers are toast!"

"We'll see about that ya mutant." Cyborg's shoulders slid out a bit, revealing a battery of missiles. The front most six ignited and flew out, pressing against Mammoth's chest without detonating. The force of the missiles pushed him back and slammed him against the hulk of the T-ship, then the missiles exploded, knocking Mammoth out in a somewhat fantastic explosion.

Cyborg smugly smiled to himself and crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"Yo barf-brain!"Cyborg whirled around. Gizmo was there, up high on his spider legs, and protruding from his body was roughly twenty laser guns, all of which were aimed at the robot Titan.

"Say cheese!" And Cyborg's vision filled with a red flash.

Raven glanced aside from her fight with Jinx to see Cyborg struck down, and earned a short jab to her ribs for the sudden drop in her defense. Raven snapped her gaze back and instintively lashed out with a backhand.

Jinx blocked with her forearm. "You never learn, do you?" The pink witch grabbed hold of Raven's arm and wrenched it down, using her arm as a guide line to the rest of her body. Raven was forced face down to the ground with Jinx standing on her back.

Jinx twisted Raven's arm, eliciting a hiss of pain from the girl. Jinx planted a platform shoe on Raven's shoulder."Did you know it only takes about forty pounds of direct force to dislocate a human shoulder?" She put more pressure on Raven's arm, it was all Raven could do to not scream.

Jinx continued "If your really lucky, you won't have any torn ligaments or tendons."

Jinx violently twisted Raven's arm, and a loud pop and a quiet tearing was heard "Oh, guess you weren't lucky..."

"AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!" Raven screamed in pain as the muscles in her arm were torn and her shoulder came out of it's socket. She desperately tried to keep back tears of pain.

Jinx let her arm flop down to the ground like a noodle. "Alright, now for the next one." Jinx leaned down to grab Raven's other arm.

Jinx didn't get the chance when a suddenly black rock flew up from the ground and hit her in the gut, knocking her down and off of Jinx.

Jinx rolled and stopped in a low crouch and saw Raven slowly, painfully standing up, clutching her ruined arm. "Okay, so you want to do this the hard way, fine by me." Jinx's hand glowed and she flung a fistful of hex at Raven's form, which caused a powerful upsurge of dirt at Raven's feet, the equivalent to an explosion.

An instant later Raven stepped out of a black portal behind Jinx and, with a snarl, slammed her in the back of the head with a black charged fist.

Jinx stepped forward and clutched the back of her head, giving a quick shout of pain. She whirled around, her foot up high ina roundhouse kick. Raven blocked with her still charged fist of black energy. "I've had just about enough of the kicks." The black energy poured off of Raven's fist and covered a startled Jinx in a blanket of obsidian.

Raven twisted her hand and flung Jinx via a tendril of energy, crashing the girl into Gizmo as he was busy kicking around a barely conscious Cyborg. The two villains tumbled to the ground in a heap, a loudly cursing heap.

Raven pointed her hand and tore the canopys off of two of the T-ship's cockpits. She dragged them over to the slightly dazed Gizmo and Jinx and trapped them in the equivalent of an enormous hamster ball.

Gizmo pounded on the glass "Hey scuzzchugger, let us out of here!"

"In a minute." Raven then proceeded to smack the ball-o-bad guys onto the ground, trees, rocks, the T-ship and anything else that was handy for about three minutes before finishing them off with a violent shake like they were in a paint mixer for about two minutes.

Raven floated the min prison over top of the unconscious Mammoth and opened it up, depositing the two of them onto their ally. Both were... quite out of it.

Raven, now no longer fighting anybody, slumped down and winced, clutching at her immobilized shoulder. She stumbled over to Cyborg and shook him with her good arm. "Cyborg, get up." She started glowing her hand to repair the flesh components of his body. In a few seconds Cyborg was groggily opening his flesh eye.

"Nngh, what happened?"

"Nothing I couldn't take care of. How are you feeling?"

"I'm getting there." He looked around and saw the pile of Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth. "Dang girl! What the heck did you do to them?" His eye caught on Raven's posture and how she was holding her arm. "Holy crap, what did they do to you?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine. Shouldn't you be worried about fixing the T-Ship?"

"Oh... yeah, right... You sure your okay?"

"I'm fine!"

"Alright, jeez. I'll go load us up on the emergency fuel canisters." The two of them walked over to the gas tank on the T-Ship, but not before Raven grabbed a small stick about the thickness of a finger.

When Cyborg rounded the corned of the T-Ship he was greeted with the sight of about twenty gallons of thick green fuel poured out onto the ground "Hey, the gas came back!"

"Where did it go in the first place?"

"It didn't go anywhere, it turned into pudding, but now it's turned back for some reason... eh, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth."

"So, we're fine."

"Yeah, we just gotta load up those three idiots and get going. Oh, and get Reaver."

Raven didn't respond as she slammed her shoulder into the side of the T-Ship, biting down hard on the stick in her mouth as she did so. Her face showed the strain of repressing the pain for a second before she went back to stony calmness. She pinwheeled her now re-located shoulder as she calmly said "Then call him."

"..." Cyborg just stared.

"...What?"

"Nothing... nothing at all."He raised his arm and talked into a small speaker in the side, stopped, and looked off for a second. "Hey, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Cyborg focused for a second. "That! Thatcrunching, sound."

"Yes I did. Call Reaver. Now."

Cyborg spoke into his arm"Reaver come in. Reaver are you-"

* * *

_"-there man. Reaver, please respond." _The voice warbled out of the device planted on my hip, but I didn't have the chance to talk back to him, so I took a second to reach down and click it off. It was only a distraction at this point. 

I flipped down off of my perch on the tree to avoid a trio of magma bombs that were once small rocks. The balls of firey death impacted the trunk and burst. We were probably well on our way to starting a forest fire if it wasn't for the fact that it rained there just the day before.

I touched down on the branch of a large elm and drew out my Glock. As I returned fire Shimmer darted and dodged through the trees herself, getting out of the way of every single shot I fired. She started a wild leaping run through the trees, and I was right behind her, reloading my spent pistol.

My entire body was slicked in sweat and blood, my clothes were torn all over andspattered with sap and mud, my hair was a mess of twigs, leaves, sap, and ticks. I was starting to show the effects of too many regenerations, rapid breathing, hunger, slowed reactions, and for some reason slightly nauseous. I hadn't felt this worn out in years.

And I was having the time of my life.

I lost sight of Shimmer for a second as she was bounding her way through the trees. I stopped in my pursuit to reload my gun, looking around for her as I did so.

She was nowhere to be found surprisingly. She was wearing bright yellow, how the hell did she blend in so well?

I saw a slight glint of light to my left and instinctively dove down to the ground. The tree I had my back pressed to was suddenly pockmarked with shinymetal pine needles.

I stood up into a run, the needles making a line in the dirt.I fired blindly into the underbrush, slowing down her rate of fire a bit.I stole a glance behind me and picked up her angle of attack.

I ducked behind a thick tree next to a creekand grimaced as I heard about a hundred slight thunks, needles tearing into the tree.

I started to replace my spent rounds. I shouted over my shoulder"Getting a little tired of this yet darlin'?"

"Not in the least!"

"Good, 'cause this has to be one of the best fights I've had in years!"

"Heh... same here!"

I smirked "What can I say, I know how to satisfy a woman." I ran out from behind the tree and aimed.

"Too bad it's your last fight!" Shimmer leapt up from behind cover, firing metal needles from her palm like a glowing machine gun.

I faded down below her initial burst and aimed up at her, squaring right on her gut. She landed on the opposite side ofthe creekand threw one last needle. I pulled my trigger.

The gun in my hand violently exploded as the needle she threw into the barrel stopped my bullet. I never even saw it coming.

A shard of shrapnel hit me in the forehead, but I ignored it and kept dodging as she began pounding more needles at me.

I scampered away covering up my head with my shield as more needles fell on my like sharp, pointy hail.

She finally ran out of needles and ground as the creek went down a short drop before continuing to a small pond. We both jumped at the same time. The two of us landed on a fallen pinelog suspended over the creek.

She landed heavily in a low crouch, absorbing some of the force with her hands as well as her legs. She rose with a noticeable slowness of her movements. She was just as worn out as I was, if not more. Her breath came out in hard, sharp gasps. She held her body like it was heavier, her feet wider to get more leverage on her mass. I could tell she wasn't used to having to work this hard to win a fight.

We ran at eachother at the same moment, meeting in the middle of the log. Her initial punch crumpled against my shield. I snaked in my claw and stabbed at her hip. She once again showed that inhuman speed of hers and grabbed my thumb and twisted it, fracturing the bone.

That wasn't enough to faze me. I retracted my claw and grabbed onto her hand, squeezing tightly.

She hissed in pain and swung with her other hand, but her angle was wrong and I was able to catch that one too. She pulled away, but didn't break my grip. A slight tightening of my hands was all it took to driver her to her knees in pain and get a low moan of agony from her.

"Give up yet girl?"

"N-never!" She hissed.

"C'mon now, there's no reason I gotta break your hands or your wrists here. Just give up and I'll let go." I put on more pressure and pushed her wrists back.

Unfortunately, that gave Shimmer the perfect chance to swing out her leg and bury it, well, somewhere that I can't even take a hit well.

One of my eyes rolled back into my head and my hands jerked open, releasing Shimmer. She fell to the ground, rubbing at her bruised hands. Not a second later she flashed up her leg and hit me in the side, knocking me into the creek.

The cold water and the fact that at the moment I was doing nothing but focusing on my regeneration jarred me back to my senses. The creek was deep, deeper than I would have originally thought. Enough for it to be faster for me to swim rather than walk if it wasn't for the thirty pounds guns and ammo on my body.

I stood up and saw Shimmer standing proudlyand smiling to herself on the log above me. I wiped my sopping wet hair out of my face as I said "Is something funny little girl?"

"Yeah, you. You look like a muddy drowned rat."

"Yeah... funny... YAA!" I shouted loudly as I reared back and slammed my fist into the log with all the strength I had, which is actually a hell of a lot.

The log shattered in the middle and the remaining halves went flying, so did Shimmer.

* * *

"Dammit, he ain't answering." Cyborg tapped the display on his communicator arm. 

Raven once again pinwheeled her shoulder, trying to get used to the sting of pain "I'm sure he has a good reason."

"He better! We almost got our butts kicked because he wasn't here!"

"Didn't Mammoth say that he had a sister here too?"

"He did? I usually just try and tune out anything that jerk says."

"I'll go find him, you stay here with the three losers." She jerked a thumb at the pile of H.I.V.E. members.

"Yeah, I'd better lock them in before Mammoth wakes up, that guy doesn't go down easy.Just be careful Raven."

Raven took off towards a flashing blip on her communicator. She almost made it twenty feet before she was consumed in a bright red flash.

"RAVEN! Huh?" A separateflashblasted into Cyborg's face."GAAH!"

* * *

Shimmer landed with a comically large splash into the pond that the creek fed. She sputtered her way back up, her face doing that funny fish-thing that people do when they get suddenly cold. It was hilarious. 

I jumped down and landed on one of the rocks that was poking out of the water. I was chuckling to myself.

She started to slowly wade over to a rock that was a few yards away from mine. She grumbled to herself "Oh yeah, I bet that was real funny asshole. Yeah, laugh at the soggy girl." She climbed up onto the rock and assumed her defensive stance. "Just keep laughing asshole, that dip was just what I needed to refresh myself. Meanwhile you just keep getting slower and slower. I bet that coat of your has to weight eighty pounds wet!"

"Oh, you mean this?" I lifted up my collar, indicating the garment. "Naw, this is nothing. But if it gives you some peace of mind, I'll get rid of it." I shrugged off the coat and hurled it at a hanging branch, stowing it neatly. Currently I was only clothed in a torn white T shirt and a pair of black denim pants and my buckler. "If your ready now darlin'"

"Stop calling me that!" She lunged at me and did a two hand swipe. I twitched my leg and hopped back to another rock along the shore. Shimmer almost slipped on the wet rock that she now stood on.

I steadied myself "Oh, and by the way sweets, you should really consider getting a different outfit. The water combined with the cold has... um... revealed your assets."

Shimmer's eyes widened and she looked down and, sure enough, she saw that she was no longer modest. Shimmer gasped and reached up to cover herself, jerked too fast, and lost her balance. She once again tumbled into the pond in a high arcing splash.

I grabbed my gut in both my hands as I started laughing rediculously hard "HAhahahaha, hoooo, hahahahaha, snort ohhhh man. That's classic right there. Haha, damn." I stood up and wiped back my hair "Shit, I'd forgotten what it was like to fight a girl... damn are they fun!"

Shimmer stood up, her long hair swept over her face. She flicked her head and rubbed her eyes, looking very pissed off. She started to stalk towards me, hunched forward, hand under the water. "Why... doesn't anybody, ever take... me... SERIOUSLY!" Shimmer's hand glowed and she swung a long stick she converted to steel at me, much further away than I thought she was capable of striking.

Her impromptu staff crashed into my knee and bent it at a bad angle. I collapsed onto my rock and slid off into the water. I jerked myself up to get over the water.

I barely had my head over the surface when all the water glowed around me, and suddenly I couldn't move anything below my neck line. Not even a little bit. I turned my neck a little bit and grated my jugular along a rough surface. It was then that I knew:

Shimmer had turned the water around me to stone.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Shimmer sat down on a rock and planted her hand on her forehead, obviously in pain. A thick bead of blood was running from her nostrils. She furrowed her brow and didn't respond.

I took my chance to regenerate my leg, and discovered that I couldn't bend it back into it's original position anymore. I took as deep a breath I could, since I couldn't expand my chest really, and started to concentrate.

Shimmer finally looked up weakly smiling at me through her haze of obvious pain. "I... finally gotcha. Nnngh!" She once again clasped her head, talking evidently bringing another wave of pain.

I grunted and pushed with my legs, ignoring the pain from putting strain on a half broken leg. The stone around me started to crack, so did my body but that's not important.

"What? NO!" Shimmer lunged at me with her staff.

With one more quick pulse of power I exploded out of my concrete prison, shooting high into the air. I snaked out an arm and grabbed a passing branch, spun around it a few times, and landed on the branch in a crouch. I triumphantly stood up, shaking myself and letting loose a cascade of stone dust.

She glared at me and transmuted her staff into a stick again, snapped it in half over her knee, and turned it into metal again with a noticeable slowness. She twirled her new metal pikes into an aggressive fighting stance.

The clandestine moment was shattered by a very loud scream. The voice was deep, masculine with a hint of adolescence.

I snapped my gaze towards it's origin "That... was Cyborg!"

Then there was another scream, just as deep but throatier. Beastial.

"Oh my god... Baron!"Shimmer looked like she was going to bound away but kept her gaze locked on me. She nervously bit her lip.

I kept my stare on her, nervously taking a glance off to my right. The direction of the crashed T-Ship and the origin of the scream.

The rock that had held me prisoner turned back into water behind Shimmer.

That did it. The both of us turned and broke off into a breakneck sprint back to where we came from, completely ignoring one another. Actually, I remembered to grab my coat first.Our fight had dragged us about a mile out into the wilderness, but that was a hop, skip, and a jump away to us.

I was the first one to arrive to a vastly different scene than what I left.

Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo were unconscious and being gathered into different sized tubes by enormous white robots. Mammoth was sporting a shiner so big that it was bleeding as well as a few patches of laser burns. There were a few smashed robots laying nearby, giant fist marks deep in their metal.

Raven and a busted upCyborg were getting a similar treatment, except from a trio of men wearing hazmat suits, two similar men off to the side holding what I assumed to be long shafted laser guns. Several of them turned to me.

_"Dammit Reaver, you let them know you were here too damn quick!" _I went for broke and lunged at one of the men loading in Cyborg, dropping my coat in the process. I swung my claw and severed the tube feeding into his mask, spraying a white mist everywhere.

I whipped around and kicked another one away, but another one snuck up behind me and stabbed with his staff, forcing me to the ground as I screamed in pain. I found the strength to lash out and severed the staff, but two more replaced it as I found that I couldn't move my muscles.

Two more hazmat men came up to me holding ketch-all poles with red glowing ropes. One swung and wrapped it around my neck. It burned almost as bad as the tazers.

A man in a similar hazmat suit sans helmet but with gogglespointed at me and shouted "Hold him down! HOLD HIM DOWN!"

I lunged for the pole man and kicked his leg out from under him. He fell back and dragged me with him, sending me flailing to the ground. Two more wire-poles swung in and wrapped my wrists. The slack was dragged out the wires, holding me tight. The man who had my neck shuffled out from under me and stood up, yanking a switch on his pole which sent a jolt of electricity through my body. I didn't even have the muscle control to breath at that point.

The goggle man walked up to my prone form as more hazmat men wrapped more poles around my extremities. He smugly smirked and put his hands together lightly, only the finger tips. "Ahhh, you must be the Titans new good little boy, aren't you?"

"And who the bloody horsefuck are you supposed to be? Somebody's pedophilic grandpa?"

"Such language! There's no call for words like that!"

I launched into a tirade of vicious insults, many of which seem entirely too vicious for the situationnow that I think about it.

"Learn some couth dog!" He spat on my face.

I lunged at him with all my strength, and pushed forward exactly two feet, one foot short of the necessary distance to reach him. The hazmat men yanked on their poles and flipped their switches, sending me to the ground again wincing audibly in pain with angry red electricity cascading over my body.

That was all I had left in me. It was at that point that I realized just how draining my fight with Shimmer was, electro-poles or not, I was trapped.

"Now then, if your through with your useless heroics I'll introduce myself. I am Dr.-"

"LET HIM GO!" Shimmer leapt from a nearby oak, still holding her pikes.

For a brief fleeting instant I thought that she was here to save me, then she turned towards the tubes her friends were in and broke into a sprint.

Shimmer leapt up athletically and plunged her spikes into the chest of one of the robots. The other three turned on her, deployed laser barrels and let loose red hell. Shimmer spun around on her pikes, using them as a pivot point. All of the lasers slammed into the robot she was mounted on.

The girl grabbed hold of her spikes and slid off of the robot as it fell to the ground a mangled wreck. Shimmer flicked her arms and launched her pikes, burying them into the optical sensors of one of the robots. Shimmer flashed forward and ran up the front of the robot that was now firing blind and kicked it's arm, sending it into a wide angle that demolished another robot's face. She kicked off of the blind machine and perched on the back of the robot with the tubes that held her teammates. The whole thing had taken roughly forty-five seconds.

_"God damn..." _

"Could somebody deal with the silly little girl PLEASE!" The man rubbed his head as the remaining lackeys moved to assault her. "I swear, I'm surrounded by incompetents..."

Shimmer pounded on the glass containing Mammothas the machine vainly attempted to reach around to it's back."Baron! Wake up! BARON!"

Mammoth shook his head "Ugghh... Selinda...?"

"Hold on Baron! I'll get you out!" Shimmer's hand glowed as she pressed it against the glass.

The blind robot shifted it's head and a pair of lenses opened on it's chest.

"SELINDA GET DOWN!" Mammoth suddenly shouted.

"Huh? AAAAHH!" Shimmer collapsed as a laser blast impacted her back.

I shook my head _"Rookie mistake darlin'...rookie mistake." _

Three hazmat men walked up with shock staffs. An exceptionally brave one leaned in to jolt her.

Shimmer's hand blurred up and grabbed the the staff of the weapon. She tilted her head up with a look of supreme anger on her face. She pushed the weapon back and pressed the butt of it into it's wielder's gut. The matter transmuter slid her hand up the weapon and shoved the business end of into one of her assailant's faces, standing up in one fluid motion as well.

Shimmer was suddenly entangled by a mass of red wires, like those on the ketch-all poles, attached to a disc that was planted on her back. The wires flared brightly and drove her to the ground with a loud shout of agony. She was dragged via the cables over to the congregation of people near me.

I glanced at her prone form. "Hey sweets, fancy meeting you here."

She grimaced "Hey yourself." and then resumed writhing in pain.

The old guy started again. "Now then, before I was so rudely interrupted, My name is Dr. Ch-"

"LET US GO CHANG!" Mammoth shouted from his tube/prison.

Chang's face fell and he sighed and then said. "Oh... never mind. Administer the stimulant." One of the hazmat men nodded.

A moment later both the still unconscious H.I.V.E. members in tubes were jolted awake by a mild shock of electricity.

"What the freg, hey, which one of you cludgeheads put me in this big glass dildo?"

Jinx glanced around, and then her wide cat eyes stopped on Chang "Is that... Professor Chang?"

"Quite nice to see that my reputation precedes me... for once. But soon that's all going to change."

Mammoth cried "He's the one who put us in here guys! He knocked me out and threw us all in these tubes."

"Hey, what gives Chang?"

Chang kept up his very creepy smirk. "Ah yes, your imprisonment. Very simple really, it would seem that my escape from the Titan's clutches last month was met with yet another unfortunate setback. Materials. Without access to my facility I was left quite helpless to secure myself a base of operations or the means to rescue my assistants. Thankfully, I knew of a place that had both access to advanced research tools and supplies to fortify myself with. An emergency lair built and paid for by the H.I.V.E. academy."

Jinx spat "YOU BASTARD! YOU TOOK OVER OUR EMERGENCY BASE?"

"Quite so. It was simple really, bypassing your childish automated defenses as well as updating the controls to my specifications."

"Gizmo, I thought you wrote that security system yourself!"

"I did scrumbuffer!"

"I have forgotten more about technology than you will ever know child. And now that I have access to the technology of both the Teen Titans and yours, I will be unstoppable. Ah yes, as well as the Titans and the H.I.V.E. themselves. And as for you two." He glared down at me and Shimmer.

Mammoth leaned forward and screamed "If you touch a single hair on her head Chang, I'll rip you in two!"

"A bold threat from a man with nothing to back it up with child!" His eyes rolled down to Shimmer. "Although..."

I tested my restraints again, only to find that the six assistants hadn't relented in their hold any.

"This one, is quite... appealing. Perhaps I will keep you around." He leaned down and gingerly cupped her jaw.

Shimmer once again showed her lightning speed as she lunged forward and clamped down on his index finger, crushing the bone right above the second knuckle.

Chang screamed "AAAUGGHH! WENCH!" Chang clutched his hand for a second and then viciously backhanded Shimmer across the face hard enough to send her to the ground.

I pulled at my restraints again, almost making it up to one foot that time. The imprisoned three strained at their bonds.

Chang cradled his broken hand "Grrr, get rid of the whore and the dog.Throw them under the cliff! NOW!"

The assistants started to drag us over to a small bluff of rock about ten feet high with a small cave in it. They flipped the switched on the staffs and jerked me into the cave. One of them callously threw Shimmer in on top of me. I would have forced her off of me if I could have moved, the paralysis still had hold of my muscles.

Chang shook his head "For shame, out in the open like that. Here, have some privacy." He flung my coat over top of the two of us. "What? Is that not enough? Very well then."

I heard a loud zap noise and then a crashing of rock, as he collapsed the cliff over top of us.


	43. Shimmer and Reaver

Shimmer spasmed and moved with a blurred haste, doing something with the coat on top of us before we were crushed.

I winced and covered my head with my arms under my coat, a fairly useless gesture in the face of a small mountain falling on you.

Oddly enough, there was no pain, none at all. Just a sort of glow and then a loud banging sound and a few odd squels of fear. It took me a minute to realize that I was the one making the squels of fear.

After a few seconds the banging stopped, and everything was silent. At this point I assumed I was dead.

I looked down and, in a light glowing haze coming from in front of me, I could clearly see a small strawberry blonde girl curled up into a ball on my legs as I was left sitting up, leaning against a bumpy and uncomfortable wall.

_"Okay, so far the afterlife isn't bad, could be a little more roomy." _

The girl laying on top of me looked up in the small amount of space we had. In her hands she held a tiny glowing pod, some sort of miniaturized lantern.When she looked at me I realized that it was Shimmer and that she was bleeding from her nose again.I also figured out that I wasn't dead because of the distinct lack of fire and a dude with horns.

I reached up and felt the impromptu ceiling above me and felt rough metal that had an odd flow to it, like sculpted stainless steel, but it was dented inward with thick bumps.

"Holy fuck girl, you turned my coat into metal!" I shined the lantern light around the cramped space and saw that the blurred movement Shimmer made before we were crushed had been kicking the coat up into a sort of tent, and then transmuting into what had to be the strongest metal in the world. I thanked whatever god was listening that I had so many damn pockets and that I hadn't unzipped the liner of the thing yet, otherwise it would be just a thin layer of cotton.

Shimmer stretched out in the tiny space as much as she could, roughly another foot and a half, and tried to sit up as much as she could as she clutched at the side of her head, hissing lightly in pain.

"Nice trick darlin', but couldn't you have made it a little more spacious in here?"

"Put... a damn... hooo cork in it... asshole." Shimmer staggered out, laboring for breath.

"Easy there sweets, your using up all the good air."

"Stop... talking."

"Or what?"

"I'll... kill... you."

"Heh, sure. Look at yourself, you couldn't even stand if you had to, why all it would take is one quick twist to-"

Shimmer's hand blurred at me with a slight shimmery glow. I felt a tiny pin prick as she pressed the metal pineneedle against my jugular, making a tiny little hole in my skin. "...Care to say that... again?"

She was still breathing heavily and was visibly fatigued, but she still had that crazy fire in her eyes.

I gulped, drawing a small red thread on my throat as my adam's apple graced the point of the needle. "I stand corrected."

"Good..."

She slumped down for about a minute of awkward silence. I sat there with my eyes closed, in deep thought, my hands running along the spaces in the walls that were still visibly rock.

Shimmer was looking at the fallen mass of earth inquisitively for several minutes. Every now and then I would see her focus for a second and then slump down, probably maintaining the transmutation on our metal tent.

It was about fifteen minutes before I finally said "Well, I reckon that's enough of a rest. Onward and upward." I started to extricate myself from the pile of people I had formed with Shimmer.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here. Failing that, getting _me _out of here."

"What?"

"Your going to have to let the coat turn back if my idea is going to work girlie. Your power lasts about four minutes, right?"

"Yeah, give or take."

"Then I've got about a minute before my coat turns back into a stylish piece of clothing and we die a painfully crushing death if we're not ready. Try and follow me as best you can, because if you fall behind I'm not coming back for you." I set my stance.

A few seconds later there was another flash of light and my coat turned back into a coat, and the avalanche began again.

Any number of things can destabilize a cavern that is set inside a mass of matter, in this case it was the sudden disappearance of a support. That empty space createdby the supportmoves upward as the matter above it falls in to take up it's space, sort of like an air bubble under water.

We traveled in that bubble, with me in the lead shoveling dirt and stones from hitting us directly as I continually jumped up to gain footing on the ground as it was built beneath my feet. Shimmer shielded herself behind me, using my body as cover. I didn't mind, there wasn't really anything else she could do at the time.

An exceptionally large rock fell into my view. I made a knee jerk reaction, shot out my claw, and punched it as hard as I could. The stone split and exploded away from me in large chunks, one of which flew directly ahead of me and pierced a thick layer of dirt. For an instant I saw something through my half blind haze of soil and sediment that made me gasp with hope.

_"Sunlight!"_

I focused myself and jumped up, shielding myself with my buckler situated over my head, forming my body into a torpedo of sorts. I crashed through the final layer of earth and was blinded by the sudden presence of the midday sun. I tumbled in midair and slammed into the ground in an unceremonious heap. I was vaguely aware of the fact that the T-Ship was gone.

I helplessly rolled over and hacked out a series of pained coughs, driving up some vile mixture of blood, mucus, and dirt. Yeah, I'm healthy.

And so that's where I laid for the next minute, breathing heavily and laboriously trying too look around through the film of soil covering my eyeballs.

I vaguely made out the form of Shimmer staggering out of the hole and push her cover off, the tattered remains of my trenchcoat. She was coughing as hard as I was. She slowly stood up, glanced around, saw me, and set herself into a stance.

I lethargically rose to my feet and brushed a layer of dirt off of my arm. "You gotta be joking kid."

"This is no joke Reaver, I'm going to take you down."

I started into a brisk walk towards my discarded coat, picked it up and slipped it on. She kept her facing on me at all times. "I'm surprised your so eager."

"You shouldn't be."

"Yeah, your probably right." I rubbed some of the crust out of my eye. "Listen girlie, I don't want to fight you anymore, so I'm letting you go. I got friends that need saving and I'm not about wear myself out fighting you anymore than I already am." I turned around and took a few steps away, giving a flippant gesture with my hand as I did so. "So run along now, I'm done with you."

I almost made it seven feet before she sailed in at me and slammed me to the ground and remained perched on my back.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DISMISS ME LIKE THAT! LIKE I'M NOTHING YOU SON OF A BITCH! I AM NOT NOTHING!" She raised her hands over her head to perform a double handed blow to the back of my head.

I did a powered push up and launched myself a solid five feet in the air. Shimmer went flipping away and landed on her butt.

I hit the ground in a solid defensive stance, claw out and shield charged. I did not make a move towards her however, choosing instead to intercept and counter any move on me she made.

But that move didn't come. She ran back and hefted up a buried stick about two feet long. She closed her eyes and focused, summoning up a glow around the stick, morphing it into a long shaft of metal.

She grinned at me and set herself into an aggressive stance...

...and then promptly fell over, out like a light.

I stared "...Well shit."

* * *

It was close to half an hour before Raven felt the threads of consciousness start to pull at her mind. 

The petite goth slowly opened up a single violet eye. "Ungh..."

She heard adeep masculine voice say "You awake Rae? Don't try to move, you got hit pretty hard."

"Nnggh... Cyborg? Where are you? What's going on? Aagh!" Raven shrieked as a powerful jolt of electricity shot down the length of her tube and shocked her.

"Don't try and move Rae! These tubes detect it and can shoot out a pretty nasty shock if you do. You can talk, but that's about it. Chang must have made these things to not muffle sound."

Raven let her body remain still, flickering her eyes all around her field of vision.

Just barely on the edge of her vision she saw the tell tale light blue of Cyborg's components, but that was all the detail she could gather. Below her were thezipping bytops of trees blanketed in a blue sky. Flying behind her was a hover platform guided by a large white robot, resting on the platform is the remains of the T-Ship.

"...Cyborg, what's going on?"

"Wish I could give you a straight up answer Rae. You go flying off to help Reaver and then the next thing I know your knocked out of the sky and I'm fighting a small army of giant robots and dudes in Hazmat suits. I think Professor Chang has something to do with all this crap, but that's it."

Rave closed her eyes and focused on her healing abilities, but found her connection to her magic closed off. "My powers are blocked off Cyborg."

"Damn... Grr... Dammit! I should have been more careful, should have known this was a setup from the beginning."

"There's no way you could have known Cyborg, looking back on it is useless. Right now we need to focus on where what we're going to do." She glanced around. "Where's Reaver?"

"I dunno, he may be in one of the other tubes, or he may be dead. I can't get sensor lock on him in this glass dildo."

Raven sidelong glanced and saw the three HIVE members drift into view. All of them were out cold save Mammoth, who was staring back into the forest with an intensity she didn't think that Mammoth could muster.

Raven stared at that for a second before there wasa very sudden and jerky stop of her robot transport, which then started to descend. Chang's voice emitted from an unknown speaker "Alright young ones, we're here."

* * *

I must have stood there staring at Shimmer's unconscious body for five minutes. I honest to god had no clue as to what I should do. 

I could leaver her where she lie, and leave to figure out a plan that would get my teammates back. She would be fine, she was just exhausted. I had never seen somebody handle that kind of strain before who didn't have some sort of endurance enhancing power. She'd be fine with some rest. Even as I had that thought, I knew it was a lie. Shimmer was dangerously exhausted, her powers were more draining to her stamina than mine. When she did wake up, she would need food and water, two things that she wouldn't be able to find without help in her current state. If I left Shimmer alone, she would die.

I sat down on a rock and rummaged around in my pocked, finally drawing out the little yellow pieces of plastic and metal that were at one point my communicator.

I stared at them for a second "Well, that sucks. I'm on my own here." I tossed the scraps away.

My eysturned back to look at Shimmer again, staring at her unconscious form.

I idly said to myself "Hmm, can I pull off a one man rescue mission against an unknown number of troops with high tech gear that are situated in a fortified base several miles away by myself."

I rested my chin in the palm of my hand. "And would she even be of any help at this point? Yeah she can fight, but how well can she fight after the pounding I gave her, much less the one she gave herself. She was willing to attack those robots after I fought her, to save her brother. Would she be willing to do it again and just get herself killed, or will she surprise me with a choice that I can't think of at this point."

My right hand snaked down my side unconsciously and brushed the steel grip of the lone Beretta 93R machine pistolthat I had strapped to my outer thigh. This was the only firearm at mydisposal, sinceI had lost my Glocks and my Mossberg shotgun at some point in the whole mess of fighting. There was a spare magazine tied to the weapon, for a total of forty rounds available to me. I'd feel much more comfortable doing this with a couple of rocket launchers or maybe a tank rather than one dinky little 9MM automatic.

I sat there pondering for a good long while. "You saved my life girlie, and that's saying something." I stood up and walked over to her, scooped her up gingerly, and wandered into the woods, looking for a good place to hole up.

* * *

One hour later, sheltered campsite deep in the Canadian wilderness.

Shimmer cracked one eye open almost painfully. Her head was pounding and her body was sore all over. She took a deep breath and suddenly bolted upright when she detected the tell-tale smell of cooking food.

She turned and saw me, back turned towards her, filthy coat draped over the log I was sitting on. She saw a steady pillar of smoke rising into the air past me.

I sensed her regaining consciousness and lightly said "Ahh good, your awake."

Shimmer bolted to her feet, already adjusting herself into a fighting stance.

"Not this again. Girl, what are you hoping to accomplish?"

"I. Will. Beat. You." Each word was said with a powerful tone of finality."

I turned around on my seat "You've got a lot of things to learn Shimmer" I realized that that was the first time I actually said her name "and the first and foremost thing is to know when to stand down. You've been unconscious for the last hour, and at any second in that I could have finished you off like it was nothing. Does that tell you that I'm interested in a fight?"

Shimmer's shoulders slumped slightly.

I continued "No, it doesn't. I don't want to fight you anymore, and I'm pretty sure you don't either. Whatever is running through your head telling you that you gotta kill me, forget it. We've got more important things than eachother to worry about now. Have you already forgotten about Chang?"

"...No."

"Now that's a bullshit lie if I ever heard one."

She just stared at me.

"Alright, listen, if your going to get your teammates back, your going to need your strength back. I've got plenty of food and water, a fire going, and a placeto sit. If you promise to stop trying to kill me, you can share some of it with me. I ain't gonna force you to help me, but I don't want to see you die of starvation in the middle of the woods."

"...How do you know I can trust you?"

"You don't. Now come take a load off. I've got fish." I held up two sticks with cooked fish impaled on them from tail to mouth.

She darted over and snatched them from my hand. I let my empty hand linger in the air for a moment before turning from her. "Now if your still hungry after that I got a few more piled up here, and some water in a-"

I turned back to see her biting the last scrap of flesh from her second fish and drain the bowl of water next to her in one long draw that ended in a gasp of air.

"...Well alright then." I impaled two more fish, then thought better of it and went with six and stood up. "When those are cooked and eaten, go to sleep. We may only have a few hours before Chang figures out that we're not dead, and we both need to be in good shape if that happens."

"Where are you going?"

"To take a piss." I pushed through the bushes foliage and out of the camp.


	44. Shimmer and Reaver Pt 2

I threw another log onto the fire that was merrily burning away between the two of us. A cavalcade of firefly-like sparks exploded into the air, winking out into the indistinct darkness that had covered the sky in the last few hours.

"And that's about all I saw before I had to pull back. The terrain's the same as it is everwhere else in the area, but you already knew that, didn't you?" I was referring to my scoutingexcursion into the wilds of Canada, which took place only a few hours previous. The only reason I even knew where the hell the thing was located was because of Shimmer's guidance.

Shimmer cupped her hands in her lap. "Are you sure you didn't see any patrols?"

I hadn't, but for the sake of accuracy I went over the trip in my head for a moment before replying "No I didn't, I don't think Chang has the man power or resources to maintain armed patrols. I did see a few sentry probes bobbing around in the woods, but those should be easy enough to get around. I'm more worried about the sensors I'm sure he has hooked up to cover the blind spots that his droids miss."

"So once we're through that it should be a cake walk." Shimmer had agreed to work with me earlier that day... sorta. She hadn't really said anything definite, but the implication was there. I knew that if I asked for her to say that she was willingly helping me, she would turn in a huff and leave, so I didn't ask. I wasn't going to force her the indignity of asking an enemy for help, or something like that.

"Yeah, but we can't do anything more until morning darlin' so get some rest." I casually leaned down and grabbed a fish that had been grilling on a spit of a stick.

I had almost taken a bite out of my fried salmon when Shimmer piped up "Why do you call me that?"

I looked up from my fish. "Huh?"

"Darlin', sweets, girlie, why do you call me that?" She leaned forward slightly.

I looked off for a moment before answering "You remind me of someone, someone I once knew. That's what I called her."

"Oh? Who was she?"

"My, um, sorta girlfriend. Don't worry about it, it's complicated."

"And I remind you of her?" She gave me an incredulous look.

"Something like that. Your both a lot alike, your both really strong, fierce, determined, seem to get off on trying to kill me." She giggled at that. "So... Selinda huh?"

"Yeah, that'd be my name."

"And your brother's name is Baron?"

"Yup."

"Those are some pretty kickass names."

She smiled and said "Yeah, I guess. I think it's to make up for the last name."

"Which would be?"

"Promise you won't laugh." I nodded "...Flinders."

I almost broke my promise to her, but was able to choke back my laugh and swallow it down. "Flinders, what is that, Australian?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I get around a lot. So, is that why you work with that team, because Mammoth's your brother?"

"Yeah, my brother and my superior."

My eyebrow raised "Your superior, but you could mop the floor with him?"

"Yeah, I can and I have on several occasions, it's just that, he's got a better villain mindset than I do, so he's a higher rank. I don't even have the clearance to access a base by myself, which is why I've been squatting in these woods for the last three days waiting for them to show up so they could let me in."

"What do you mean by villain mindset."

"He's more... I guess 'dastardly' is the word."

"So you won't punch children or something?"

She giggled "No that's not it, well, I won't punch a kid, but that's not why I haven't graduated."

"Do ya mind if I ask?"

"... No, not really. I... don't have a killer instinct. That's supposed to be my last test before my graduation. I have to kill somebody." She sheepishly looked down at the ground.

"Well then, what's stopping ya?"

"I don't know. Whenever it comes time to do the deed... I just... freeze up." At that moment Shimmer felt it was important to study the coals of the fire.

I stared at her for a few seconds, and then snorted, and then started letting out a thick, breathy laugh.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!" She made like she was going to lunge across the fire at me.

I held up my hand helplessly and was able to choke out "Sorry girlie, sorry, but it's not that, I'm not laughing at you darlin'. I'm just enjoying the irony of the moment is all."She looked confused. "Here you are, a villain, and you have a problem with taking a life, andhere I am, a hero, and I don't have one. Delicious, isn't it?"

We both had a good long laugh about that one.

I sighed and stood up "Alright sweets, I'm going to sleep. Don't stay up for too much longer, we got work to do tomorrow."

"Goodnight Reaver."

"Night Selinda."

* * *

Later that day, around mid-morning. 

A small metal orb bobbed along through the woods, emitting a light sonar pulse, and a bright electronic eye scanning it's surroundings.

The sensor droid floated over a small pool of water, it's eye rotating around it circumferance to scan it's depths. Satisfied with the inspection, it bobbed away to continue it's never ending patrol.

A beat.

"Huhh!" I rose out of the pond, sputtering and gasping for breath. A moment later Shimmer rose up next to me, doing a similar routine.

Shimmer acted first. She ran up to a nearby tree and scampered up it's surface, perching on a branch about fifteen feet in the air. She hissed "C'mon!"

I ran over to a pile of moss and kicked it aside, exposing my hidden coat. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." I twitched my legs and landed heavily next to Shimmer.

This was one of the chancier aspects of our plan. To avoid any sensors Chang had set up on the ground, we were going to travel through the branches of the trees. Right now it was pretty much a straight line to the compound, albeit a long one.

I turned to my temporary partner and gestured forward. "Ladies first." She wryly smiled and hopped forward, landing on a nearby branch. She stumbled slightly before continuing with her momentum and jumping again.

I stared at her, appalled at the lack of speed she was showing. Shimmer may have been faster in close quarters and way more acrobatic than me, but her foot speed and balance wereinferior to mine. I smirked a little bit to myself.

Shimmer jumped again and landed on a sturdy branch, that just so happened to be covered in moss. Her foot slid out underneath her, sending her into a perilous fall. She didn't scream, just grimaced at future pain.

I, however, shouted out "Shit!" I lunged for her, landing on the branch with my chest. I snatched her hand before she fell even three feet. She gasped and grabbed my hand with both of hers.

"Up and at'em." I hoisted her up with one arm and set her down next to me, brushing off my chest with my other arm. "You alright, girlie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." She takes to running steps and jumps to another branch a few feet away.

I crouch and leap, landing behind her. I shoot out my arms and scoop her up, bracing her by her back and knees.

Shimmer shrieks out "What do you think your doing!"

"It'll be faster if I carry you sweets, hold on." I got a short running start beforeI coiled my legs like a pair of heavy springs and focused energy to those muscles.

"Hey, what are you going to-? Oh damn!" Shimmer winces.

I shot out of those woods like a rocket, tearing through the canopy like some mythic bird. The sudden amount of bright sun painfullyblinds me for an instant, but I focus through it and keep staring straight ahead. Shimmer is screaming in my arms, clutching onto me like her life depended on it, actually it did, but that's beside the point.

I hit the apex of my jump around 500 feet, well over the canopy of the forest. We soared down toward the ground and landed heavily on a thankfully solid branch after a little over a minute of air time. I'm pretty sure I covered about 800 feet of distance, an acceptable jump. I looked down at Shimmer, "You alright darlin?" She didn't respond "Shimmer?" still nothing "Whatsthe matter girl?"

"That... was... AWESOME!" She exploded into a flurry of motion, knocking me on the ground. She brought her clenched fists up in front of her grinning face and started excitedly hopping up and down. "Lets go again! Lets go again!" she giggles, ohgoddoes shegiggle.She stops dead for an instant, and then immediately sobers up, standing straight, feet balanced, and her face a mask of dispassionate professionalism "Um, I mean, uh..."

"Save it darlin" I stood up, dusting myself off "Well then, hop on." I turned around and Shimmer latched onto me piggyback style. "Ready girl?"

"You betcha." She shifted and tightened her grip around my neck.

"Let's make like the wind." the two of us flew up in a pulse of blue energy.

* * *

A pair of men in hazmat suits are planted on the orange metal of the T-Ship. One of the holds a scanner while the other is crouched down holding a cutting torch, dragging a long line of melted metal along the craft's bulk. The one with the scanner taps on the interface and nods, continuing with the reverse engineering of the large ship.

Professor Chang stands on a catwalk high above the gutted T-Ship, smiling to himself, drumming his fingertips against themselves. He turns around with a slight amount of flair and gazes at his captures pets.

Raven, Cyborg, Mammoth, Gizmo, and Jinx all stand frozen in long tubes crafted from some unbreakable transparent material. All five of them are trapped in rictuses of angry protest, mirrors of themselves from moments before they were all summarily trapped in ice. There are only five tubes in the line, and no space for any more.

Chang's reverie is interrupted by a gloved hand being placed on his shoulder. Chang roughly turns around and angrily says"What is it?"

A hazmat man turns pushes a small monitor device towards him and shown on the device, through the readout of data and calculations, is a man wearing a trenchcoat carrying a jumpsuited redhead on his back flying through the air. From the readout it says that they're four miles away.

Chang nods and rubs his chin "Hmm, so the children are far more resourceful than I thought. Dispatch two response teams, standard tactics, and alert all personnel to prepare for combat in the event that they fail. Prep my shuttles and the package, we might be leaving early."

The hazmat man nods and jogs off, but is stopped when Chang shouts out "Wait!" The man turns around. Chang glances at the five tubes and squints for a moment before uttering"Take no prisoners."


	45. The First Part Is Always the Easiest

I landed for what I assumed to be the billionth time on a thick tree branch, and for the billionth and one time I jumped again, inexorably pushing onward to the fortress of a geriatric, vaguely perverted scientist and his small army of robots, henchmen, and robot henchmen.

Shimmer broke the silence between us after about twenty minutes of travel. "Hey, how about we take a break?"

"Why? You tired already?"

"Nah, I just don't want youto wear yourself out is all."

I blinked "...Your boobs are being crushed, aren't they?"

"Like you wouldn't freaking believe." She shifted on my back. I chuckled lightly and shook my head.

I touched down on an exceptionally sturdy branch and shrugged Shimmer off of me. She sat down, straddling the branch, we were on and let out a deep breath. I stretched my neck, which let out a painful pop, at which time I started to rub it as I leaned against the giant tree trunk. I drained half of my flask, which was now regrettably only filled with water, and tossed the rest to Shimmer.

She gulped it down and wiped a small trickle of water from the corner of her mouth. "So, how much further?"

"Not far at all, maybe a couple of minutes at this pace."

"And what's the plan for when we get there?"

"Bust in, bust some heads, take turns smacking around Chang, and release yours and mine."

"Okay, but what about after that?"

"I was thinking about hitting up Red Lobster on the way home truth be told."

"That's not what I mean! I'm talking about my friends!"

"What about 'em?"

"You were sent here to re-capture them, right? Well, what are you going to do?"

I shrugged "I guess I hadn't really thought-" I ceased my sentence as both of our heads snapped to the side simultaneously, and we both jumped away. Shimmer fading back to a lower branch on another tree and me fleeing up to a higher perch.

Less than a second after we cleared the branch, a hailstorm of energy projections flew in and vaporized the foliage.

Both of us scanned the area in an instant before ducking behind cover and turning towards one another. I shouted "Four flying robots in a delta formation about five hundred feet away and a hundred feet up."

Shimmer continued "A hover APC with an unknown number of men inside with five on foot approximately seven hundred feet away. I've got the ground, you take the air."

"Let's take 'em apart!" I shot out my claw and stepped around the tree trunk, kicking off of my branch towards the distant closing-in machines. Shimmer dropped down to the ground and set off like a bullet.

One of the hulking mecha extended it's arm and ignited the tail ends of a trio of missiles.

Panicking, I ripped my machine-pistol off of my thigh and fired a burst. All three bullets scratched into the machine's arm, the last one lightly nicking one of the missiles.

All of a sudden all three of the robots were obscured by a raging inferno that annihilated one of the machines. I landed heavily on a branch, mildly surprised that that had worked. Deciding quickly not to waste the opportunity, I rocketed up through the cloud of smoke and fading flame and slashed blindly, getting a lucky strike in that buried my hand wrist deep in one of the thing's necks.

"Gotcha!" I wrapped my hand around something that I assumed to be important and yanked, kicking off the machine's chest at the same time. The remaing mechs turned sighted in on me with a barrage of laserfire.

I hit the ground running with a trail of laser blasted craters forming behind me. I ducked behind a well placed rock and crouched low. "Two down, two to go. Seems simple enough."

Around that time, Shimmer was making contact with the Hazmat men. The enormous polished steel hover APC floated along at a good pace with the five outside jogging along the side, all of whom were carrying laser staffs.

Shimmer rounded a tree and closed quickly, faster than any of the men could react. One of the men collapsed, a heel driven into his collarbone with an audible crack. The remaining four saw her, one of them pointing and shouting something over their com-channels. The other three opened up with long streaks of red energy.

Shimmer weaved to the side, dancing out of the way of the blasts. She shouted out "Not good enough!"

Shimmer rushed forward in a flowing motion, pushing aside one of the laser shafts with her shoulder while rolling her arm into a haymaker. Her fist crumpled the face plate of one of the thugs. She pivoted off of that goon and brought her foot around in a flying hail-mary arc that snapped the staff in his hands and probably collapsed his throat.

Shimmer glanced aside and saw the remaining two make a mad dash for the side of the APC, upon which a door was situated. Shimmer lowered herself and started to sprint after them.

A pair of panels on the side of the vehicle swiftly opened up and a pair of bulky gun barrels protruded, mounted on swivels. Asmall red beam of laser light projected from the top of both the barrels.

"...aw crap." Shimmer simpered as she stared down at the pair of red dots on her torso.

One of the cannons fired a short two second long burst of crackling red energy. Shimmer grimaced and crouched, almost laying flat on the ground. She felt the heat radiating off of the beam as it lanced over her frame, missing her by inches. The second shot followed not a second later.

Shimmer frog hopped over the blast, once again narrowly avoiding it. She stole a glance behind her and saw that the two beams had vaporized perfectly circular tunnels through the ground and forest. "...Note to self, don't get shot." The girl dashed forward, avoiding another pair of disintegrationrays off of pure speed.

She skidded to a stop in between the barrels and brought her arms straight out her sides, lightly touching each of the weapons. She pulsed her light into both and transmuted the metal into molten form, ruining both the cannon. Without missing a beat she snapped her arms forward against the hull of the APC and in an impressive display of power, turned a perfectcircle of metal into water.

Several of the hazmat men turned to regard her, a look of surprise evident even through their masks. Shimmer smiled and stepped in.

A few seconds later a heavily damaged, smoking robot careened into the small clearing, carving a respectably long trench in the dirt. I hopped down off of the back of the thing, cracked my neck, and yawned.

About twenty seconds later Shimmer walked out of the hole in the APC looking very proud of herself. I nodded at her, she nodded back.

"Alright darlin', let's go." I crouched low so she could get on my back again.

"I have a better idea, one that doesn't involve any jumping or boob-crushing." She gestured toward the APC and broke into a light jog. I shrugged and followed her.

She continued to talk as she walked. "I found these while I was kicking the goon's asses, must be for scouting or something." She led to the back of the vehicle, into a smaller airlock like room. Inside were two medium sized objects underneath sheets. She grabbed the edge of one and pulled it off with an unnecessarily dramatic flourish.

I smirked "Sweet."

* * *

About ten minutes later we were motoring through the woods on a pair of heavily stylized dirtbikes. We stuck to a main trail through the woods after we realized that an armed patrol probably meant they knew where we were. The next few minutes passed in silence. 

Up ahead of us a pair of bushes flipped over and out sprouted a pair of three foot high towers. A pair of vertical red eyes lit up on both and a spray of red energy bolts shot out to meet us.

I reached for my gun, but I was too slow on the draw. Shimmer just flicked her hands and sent out a pair of metal discs that used to be shards of shale. Both whipped in and severed something vital on the towers, shutting them down for a sparking second, and then exploded, I'm not sure why.

"Is that it girl?"

"No, not by a longshot. We've got to break the primary perimeter before we hit the base proper."

"Shouldn't we be able to see the thing at this point?"

"It's entirely underground."

"Oh, well, yeah that makes sense, I guess."

"Heads up!"

I looked forward just in time to pivot off to the side as a bright red beam carved a swath through the woods. A pair of pop-up swivel turrets rose out of the ground , this time both were armed with disintegration cannons. Several more bursts of energy flew at us as we bobbed and weaved for our lives. I took a chance and pulled my pistol, belching three bullets in rapid succession. All three slammed into a faintly visible blue energy field that surrounded the machine.

"Shielded, sure why not?" I turned to my left "I got this one Shimmer, but I need a distraction!"

"Fine!" Shouted Shimmer as she bobbed and weaved into a low turn, drawing the fire of both turrets off to our left.

I cranked my throttle and pushed forward, straight at the right turret. Istole a glance at Shimmer andbarely saw her flashing from behind trees. I took careful note of the timing on the turrets, and noticed that they fired a shot every two and a half seconds, and that last half a second was marked with a brief charge up time."God I hope this works."

I skidded forward with my back tire and went into a slide, gripping the bike with my legs. I pushed off the ground with my arms and sent me and the bike into the air. I grabbed ahold of a branch and looped around it with the bike still held between my legs, and I released the bike on my first spin, hurling it at the turret. I coiled up my legs and planted them on the branch, kicking off into a spearhead dive at the turret.

The dirt bike slammed into the shield and thankfully detonated, causing the shield to short out. I spun in midair and put my feet forward, planting them against the barrel of the turret just as it was having it's half second charge up. The barrel pivoted against it's will with a loud moan of warping metal. The blast tore out of barrel and burned through the other turret. I swung my claw and rended the paneling on the turret, permitting me access to grab onto a mass of circuits and tear them out as I rocket past.

One part of my plan that I didn't work on was the landing, so that was a rather unceremonious affair. I counted at least two separate bounces before I made a long skid mark in the dirt and thumped into a tree face-first.

Shimmer decided right then to roll up next to me. She flipped down her kickstand and leaned down at me with her chin resting on her hands. "Hey, you alright Reaver?"

I spat out a mouthful of leaves and dirt. "If I say no will I not get laughed at?"

"Nope."

"Alright, I'm fine then."

Shimmer laughed at me and patted the seat behind her "C'mon get on."

"Sorry darlin', not my style." I push her back with one hand and plant myself in front of her.

"Hey! No fair!" She angrily pouts.

"You may want to hang onto something." I revved the unnecessarily powerful engine in the dirt bike and peeled out.

* * *

It was a short ride the base from that point, only about three minutes. It was at that point, that I found a gaping hole in our plan. 

"How the fuck are we supposed to get into the place!" I gestured wildly at the clearing around us, a clearing which Shimmer told me had a concealed entrance.

"Calm down you spaz, I got the entry code from one of those goons back there. Now all I need to do is find the panel..." She begins knocking on a tree and listening for the sound. After trying out twotrees a metal panel makes an appearance from behind a sheath of synthetic bark.

"Hurry up dammit!"

"Keep your pants on! Christ..." She starts to tap in a quick series of strokes, and then a loud, negative beep sounds from the console.

"Is thatsupposed to happen?" I inquire.

"Do you see a door opening up anywhere?"

"No."

"Then shutup and let me try again." She relentlessly slams the code into the pad, and once again gets the negative response.

"...The goon gave you the wrong code didn't he?"

"God DAMMIT!" Shimmer angrily punches the display, shattering the LCD screen and squeezing out a few drops of the liquid behind it. "We'll never get in now! There's no way!"

I strode into the clearing "Well, there's always my way."

"And that would be?"

"Precisely directed force." I closed my eyes and focused, sensing everything that lived around me. I saw Shimmer's youthfully bright glow, a Dove up in a tree with three dully glowing eggs, countless insects and fauna existing around me. As well as what I was searching for, a group of men huddled around a hidden entrance to an underground tunnel, each one a bundle of nervous energy.

I duck down and grate my claw along the floor, digging deep into the dirt. I find a small catch on the ground, the crack of a hidden door. My claw wriggles into the small bit, and then levers up the hidden door. With one hand I wrench up on the door, gaining a few inches of groaning metal as servos were forced to work against their will. I got a solid grip with my other hand and, in one brutal display of muscular strength, tore the lifting door out of the ground, letting beams of sunlight shine down a tunnel at a small horde of men in hazmat gear, all of which were visibly surprised.

Shimmer blurred past me before any one of the men could fire a shot. She bounced left and right off the walls, flashing out arms and legs that were spontaneously coated in a thin veil of unyielding titanium. I heard a few solid thwacks come out from the tunnel, and then my eyes adjusted to the light, allowing me to see the devastation she wrought on them. The grinning girl glowed her costume back to it's original composition and cracked her knuckles.

"Well? What the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Took the words right outta my mouth sweets."


	46. Responsibility

The calm monotonous drone of the work within the underground hangar was suddenly ruined by the piercing sound of a wailing alarm. The remaining men took a glance around, all of whom were confused.

Save Professor Chang, who stopped in his task to take a sharp inhale of breath. The old man whirled around and tapped on the nearby control panel, bringing up a display of the underground base. One tunnel in particular was noted with a flashing red display.

Chang turned to his nearby attendants. "Get all available security to the mouth of tunnel A-17, except for the hydra unit, sent hem to the hangar. Transfer all data we've gathered from the Hive tech and load it onto the database of both our flyers, and put the package onboard the automated craft, even if we get caught I don't want our benefactor to be disappointed." The two men nodded and ran off.

The professor glanced at the five tubes that contained the frozen teenagers. "Well boys and girls, it looks like we're going on a little trip."

* * *

Shimmer and I were running down that dark tunnel for what seemed like forever. The hallway was barely wide enough for us to run abreast. 

The pair of us tore through the door frame, sliding to a stop on the grated metal floor in the dimly lit chamber.

I didn't immediately see anyone, which was actually more alarming in and of itself. "Stay on your toes darlin'."

Six flood lights clacked on all at the same time, bathing all of us in blinding light. That was apparently the cue for every single person on the above walkways and the floor to open fire. It was a solid tactic, blinding your opponents before they can even dream of putting up an adequate defense. Shimmer and I however, for lack of a better term that I can't think of right now, are awesome.

The lights turned on and both of us were already running in opposite direction, spreading their possible targets. Laser and disintegration flashes lit up my wake, ruining the perfectly good floor, I however was unaffected. I leapt up and spun in midair, firing sprays of shot at the flood lights. My aim was dead on and shattered three of the blaringly bright lights, showering the men standing in front of them in broken glass.

A phalanx of guards stood behind a makeshift piece of cover, a piece of cover that was very quickly converted to water as Shimmer plowed through it, clotheslining two very surprised guards in the process. She flipped up onto her hand and buried her heels into another Hazmat man's jaw before whirling around her other leg and crushing another's ribs. She nimbly landed on her feet and tore into the bulk of the soldiers like a ravening beast.

I landed on some poor unfortunate up on the upper level and lashed out to my sides, dropping another two men. A delta of five men with energy staffs ran out from a fardoorway and fired, forcing me to dodge to the side frantically. One shot caught me square in the chest, wracking my body with a fresh wave of hot pain. I landed fairly unceremoniously next to a still bright floodlight.I stood while regenerating my scorched organs as more blasts pounded into the back of the light, shorting it out.

Another blast struck the hinge of the light, causing it to sag. This gave me a fairly brilliant idea. I kipped up and kicked the other hinge, snapping the other hinge, sending the light tumbling onto it's back. I buried all five of my claws into the metal and pulled, swinging the giant light around myself.

"Hey bastards, catch!" And with a powerful grunt I pitched the several hundred pound circle of aluminum and wires at the five men, who all looked appropriately surprised.

I didn't have time to see the impact as I ran away towards the last remaing group of ten men on the upper level, peppering them with the last of my clip on my approach. The barrage of bullets incapacitated five of them, and my hurled gun and spent clip took out another two. The remaining three were a simple mop up.

I tossed down the last of the goons and took a deep breath. I strode over to the balcony overlooking the lower level and beheld quite a sight.

At least thirty Hazmat men, all of them unconscious and in varying states of injury, and sitting on a large pile of goons was a fairly worn out Shimmer. She weakly waved and called out, "Well that was easy."

"Too easy is more like it, this was meant to delay us, nothing more."

"Then that means that Chang is trying ot get away."

"Or setting up something even nastier for us." I sheathed my claw.

"I saw an elevator over here, c'mon." Shimmer bolted up and ran off. I followed right behind her.

I pried open the doors to an elevator that sat in the middle of three and we slipped in. Shimmer slapped the lowest button available and we started sliding down with a gentle hum. Thankfully there wasn't any muzak.

Shimmer sat and started taking deep breaths, attempting to recover from her previous exertions. "You never did answer me, back in the woods."

"Eh?"

"About my friends, and yours. What are you going to do about us."

I was put on the spot, and really didn't like it. "Um, is this really the time Shimmer?"

"It is if I say it is."

At that moment the elevator grated to a sudden halt, startling the both of us. It was something of a mixed blessing.

"Well I saw that coming. Chang's stoppedthe elevators,what the fuck are we supposed to do now?"

"Have you already forgotten who your traveling with Reaver?" Shimmer planted her hand on the ground, making a patch of it glow and flow away, creating a three foot wide hole in the bottom of the elevator. She grinned at me.

At that momentthe buttonpanel opened up in the side of the elevator and deposited a pair of small cylinders, both of which had one flashing end. All four eyes in the elevator widened.

"MOVE!" Shimmer was gone beneath the hole before I had even spoke. I dove barely making it out before a thunderous explosion rocked the shaft.

I flailed wildy, gaining purchase with my claw on the side of the shaft. I turned my head to see Shimmer clutching to the elevator cable. I shouted out "You okay?" she gave me a thumbs up.

A loud grating noise sounded from overhead, we both looked up to see the elevator list perilously to the side.

I hurled myself out of the vehicle's path, but Shimmer wasn't nearly as lucky. She kicked off the cable, but it had slackened too much for her to get any real force off of it. I perched onto the opposite wall like a fly and looked up just in time to see her get blasted downward by the tumbling wreck.

"SHIMMER!" I shouted out in alarm. Panicking, I slingshot myself down the elevator shaft after the hulk elevator hulk, which bounced around the wide shaft haphazardly.

I was almost at the broken elevator when I smacked face first into an upward moving elevator with a wet crack and cry of "GAH!"

I immediately started regenerating my face as I lay there, lightly groaning in pain. I groggily opened my eyes in time to see a bright, wickedly curvedred blade tear through the roof of the elevator, causing me more than a little alarm. I kipped up to my feet as more bladed tore through my floor, forcing me to back up or have my feet impaled by red death.

My foot slid back off into nothing as I reached the edge of the elevator. I pinwheeled my arms to try and retain my balance, but failed miserablyand tumbled back, but I wasn't a complete failure, I was able to grab the edge of the elevator with my left hand.

I breathed a sigh of relief before another pair of red blades tore through the elevator's side, causing me grimace in surprise. I started to haul myself up, but one of the blades made contact and pierced my bicep right in the middle, tearing a ragged hole out the other side, and it didn't pull back.

I shrieked even as another blade threaded between my other arm and my torso. Very pissed at that point. I grabbed ahold of the weapon and yanked, hopefully hurting the man on the other side. I twisted themetal and bent it tothe sideso as the make it impossible to draw it back. I grabbed the ledge with my other hand and hauled myself up, pulling my arm off the blade in the process.

Before I had even gotten myself onto the elevator, a flashing red blade came at my head in a deadly arc. I jerked to the side, reducing the decapitation to a small hair line cut on my neckfor my efforts. I rolled away to put some distance between us and got a good look at my opponent.

He looked vaguely like the Hazmat men I had grown used to, except his outfit was tighter, and had black marking worked in with the bland gray. The mask was matte black save his reflective red goggles, and of course a pair of curved, single edge blades were mounted on his forearms.

Before I could put up any real defense, he blurred-_blurred_-at me, going for a hail mary overhead chop. I got my claw in the path of the blade, barely. I pushed off of him and kicked at his face, catching his cheek and sending him away from me. He skidde to a stop and took a moment to recover, I didn't and was upon him in a second, stabbing at his torso. He parried it off to side and came at me with his other blade, driving it up to the hilt in my forearm.

I snarled in rage and twisted my arm around, bringing his wrist with it, forcing him into and awkward angle. With my other hand I grabbed his head and pulled his face into my rising knee, shattering his face plate and his face. I haphazardly tossed him into the open roof hatch on the elevator. I hopped down after him, making sure to land on his gut.

Planted against the far wall was another one of the blade men who was tugging uselessly at his still trapped claw. I glared at him and lashed out, burying my fist in the nearby wall.

I sneered "You and your idiot friend chose one hell of a day to piss me off." I pulled out my hand which was holding a familiar pair of small cylinders. The man started tugging at his blade faster. I jumped up through the hatch and with an impassive face, tapped the two buttons on one end and threw them down. I could hear unfortunate man inside yanking at his arm wildly.

I was several hundred feet away from elevator when it exploded, my body straight as an arrow downward. I saw the ground nearing so I reached and grabbed the elevator cable to slow myself down, not caring that the last fifty feet of it were now coated in my blood.

The elevator had landed unceremoniously, being almost totally unrecognizable. I focused on my life sense, but didn't see anything under the rubble, a fact which more than a little bit freaked me out before I detected several life signs outside the door to the current floor.

I poked my head out and was fairly relieved to see Shimmer standing in the hallway, looking a little worn out but fine regardless. "Where the hell have you been Reaver?"

"Therapy, let's finish this." I started sprinting down the hallway, Shimmer only slightly behind me.

Blast doors closed in front of us in rapid succession, and in equally rapid succession they were transmuted into glass and smashed through by myself. After a number of doors that I seem to have forgotten we burst into a very large hangar.

A pair of giant launching pads loomed over us, both of which had craft mounted on them, one of which was very familiar to me.

"That son of bitch stole my ship!" I glared at the large bulk of the T-Ship, except now it was painted up in a dull gray and black. The other craft was much smaller and done in the same motif.

"That's not important right now, look in the cockpit!" I did, and saw something that I had been looking for for the last two days.

"Chang!"

Professor Chang was seated in the front most cockpit of the T-Ship. He turned and sneered at me, raising up the radio to his mouth. "Hello children, how have you found my little base. Charming?"

"Fuck off you moldy piece of dick cheese! Where the hell is my brother." Chang looked mad, and I was surprised that it wasn't me who yelled that, it was Shimmer.

"I see your companion's eloquence has rubbed off on you my dear. You needn't worry about your sibling, he's safe with me. In fact, I do believe that the whole lot of us will be going." He sat back down, and then the rumbling started.

Fire poured out of the engines of both crafts. The smaller craft took off almost immediately, but the gargantuan bulk of the T-Ship was slightly more ponderous.

Both Shimmer and I broke out into a run toward the pad, but both of us skidded to a halt as laser fire made a line in front of us. Several of the men in the black suits I had seen on the elevator earlier were sprinting towards us from the side, some wielding the red scythe claws and others with the energy staffs I had grown to know fairly well.

Shimmer cracked her knuckles and made to take them out, but I stopped her with a grab to the arm. "Those guys would take too long to stop, they're not like the rest. We need to stop Chang." She hesitated for a moment before nodding and running off with me, the both of us dodging laser blast all the while.

We were about halfway to the pad when with a sudden flash of energy the T-Ship burst upwards, kicking off a monstrous cloud of dust and heat, forcing the both of us to shield ourselves.

I shouted out "Shit, he's getting away! What are we gonna do now?"

"You can jump that high right?"

"Yeah, but the T-Ship is too tough for me to claw onto it." I glanced over my shoulder at the oncoming horde of men and then back at the T-Ship, and I then realized that I was out of options.

And then Shimmer surprised me with "Reaver, throw me."

I paused "What?"

"You heard me, throw me at the ship. I'll transmute handholds for myself."

"If I miss, you know that you'll go splat right?"

She then said something else I never expected "I trust you."

That was good enough for me.

I grabbed her wrist and she grabbed my arm with both her hands. I spun once, twice, thrice. I channeled as much power as I had available to my right arm, strengthening it to an incredible level. I planted my feet and swung her one last time, releasing my grip at the apex of my arc.

Shimmer bulleted at the now distant T-Ship, her teeth clenched and hair whipping about madly. Within seconds she had broken the mouth of the hangar, and then the tops of the trees. She could barely make out through her blurred eyes the ship she flipped herself and put her hands out, barely gracing the side of the ship, allowing her to latch on with a patch of transmuted glue.

I nodded my head "Go get'em Shimmer." I looked around to see a small horde of black-suited Hazmat men, all of whom were staring me down. "Dammit all." I shot out my claw and set myself.

Shimmer set herself onto the craft, holding against the whipping winds that threatened to peel her off the ship. Slowly, carefully she started to crawl forward. After about a minute she made it to one of the side cockpits and looked in.

"Baron!"

Inside the small bubble was Mammoth, squeezed into one of the tubes that was then further squeezed into the co-pilot's compartment by removing the seat. Shimmer transmuted herself a hole in the canopy andsquirmed in.

Shimmer planted her hands on the cold glass, a look of sadness on her lovely face that was quickly replaced with anger. "Chang, your dead!" The enraged girl dove out of the hole she made and charged across the top of the ship, sticking herself to the bulk of the ship with hastily transmuted glue. Shimmer transmuted a hole in the glass andslammed hertransmutedmetal fist into the back of Chang's head, causing him to pitch forward.

The good Professor kept his bearing and stayed forward out of her reach."Nnng, what does it take to kill you children!" Chang twisted the controls to the side, pitching the craft into a steep angle.

Shimmer bent herself and grabbed ahold of the ship with her left hand, and transmuted a larger hole with her right. Displaying impressive fitness, she kicked off of the ship and snaked her legs into the compartment.

Chang grinned and pressed one of the many buttons, the one that opened the canopy.

The semi-circle of glass attempted to slide back and become a quarter-circle, but was stopped when it pinched shut on Shimmer's mid-section, cutting her deep.

"AAAUUGH!" Blood welled up from the gash in her stomach and her hands where she attempted to push back against the motor that groaned in protest to being stopped.

"You should have known better than to pursue me girl, nobody messes with Professor Chang and gets aw-" Chang was cut off when Shimmer lashed out and brought one of her powerful kicks across his face, dropping him like a sack of bricks.

Shimmer grit her teeth and pushed one last time, transmuting more of the canopy glass into a thin veil of cotton, and her body weight was more than sufficient to break that and let her slide into the cockpit.

Shimmer was huddled in a ball on the floor in agony, clutching at her ruined stomach with her slashed hands. She was sobbing with heavy, shuddering gasps.

"Shimmer?"

She looked up, tears streaking her face. "Wha... Reaver?"

"Shimmer are you there?" I stood amidst a small number of wounded thugs, holding a stolen radio communicator to my face. "Shimmer, I heard you screaming, are you okay? Where's Chang?"

"Oh god... Reaver, it hurts... it hurts so much..." She started sobbing again.

My tone got very serious "Shimmer... what happened?"

"It hurts..."

"Snap out of it! You need to get that ship on the ground, that's the only way I can help you, can you do that for me?"

"I can't... I'll bleed."

"Shimmer, I know your hurt, but you need to do this. I don't know how long that thing's trip is going to be, if your hurt bad enough, you'll bleed to death, and I can't help you if your in the air."

"I'll...I'll try." She started to slowly stand.

"Good."

Shimmer stood up straight and cried out in pain once again as her wound got stretched, but she was able to soldier on and limp towards the control panel and flop down in the seat. "What do I do?"

I paused, desperately trying to remember the brief tutorial I had recieved on the T-Ship's use. "There should be a button, it'll say 'Vertical Landing' on it. Press that and you should go straight down and land."

I heard a slight click and a change in the pitch of the engines. "Good work, I'll be there in a little bit darlin'."

"Shimmer?"

"..." Still no answer.

"Talk to me girl."

"Fuck." I curled my legs and jumped up out of the hangar and then bound off in the direction of the ship.

It took me all of five minutes to reach the downed vessel amidst a copse of now crushed trees. Immediately I rushed to the front of the ship and looked in.

It was grisly, and that's coming from me. She was perched in the chair, her head slung to one side and puddle of blood at the base of the chair. She looked pale and sweaty, a really bad sign.

"Shimmer!" I ran to her side "Shimmer, talk to me! Say something sweetheart!" I took a pulse, it was weak but it was still there. "Goddammit, what the fuck do I do?"

And then my eyes settled on Chang.

I snatched him up from the ground and slapped him across the face a few times "Wake up! Wake up you filthy old bastard!"

"Nnng, huh, what?" He faded into consciousness.

I pointed at him "You!" I pointed as Shimmer "Fix her! Now!" I let go of his collar.

"And why should I? That wench ruined my plan, and so did you as a matter of fact!"

"Because if you don't I'll-"

"Do what? Throw me in jail? Beat me up? No matter, any punishment would be worth it to get to watch that girl die in front of me, there's nothing you can do to change my mind!"

I narrowed my eyes "Do it, or I'll fucking kill you."

"Not likely child, I know your type your too worried about your credentials and reputation to truly do anything deplorable to me, your too afrai-"

Chang was interrupted by a quick swing of my arm, and then the wet smack of his pinky finger hitting the ground.

He stared at his separated digit, and then at me, not making a sound. I flicked blood off of my claw "You know nothing about me, now get to work or you won't even be recognizable as a person when I'm done."

He didn't have any reservations after that.

* * *

Hours later I was sitting in the waiting room of some Canadian hospital, I didn't really pay attention to which.

An elderly black nurse came up to me. "Excuse me, but your that Reaver boy, right?"

"That I am."

"Your friend is awake now. You can see her if you want.

"Thank you, I would like that."

"This way then." She walked off with me right on her heels.

What seemed like several hour later I was standing outside the doors to room 121 in the Intensive Care Unit. "Just go on in." I just nodded in response as she walked off.

I tentatively pushed open the door to the room and beheld the sight inside.

Laid out on a very white hospital bed, amidst a chorus of rhythmic clicking and beeps, was Selinda Flinders. Her hair was a sweaty mat that fanned out from the back of her head. Her skin was pallid and slick with sweat and her eyes were half cracked and glazed. Bandages lay over her stomach in a thick layer that hid the deep stomach wound.

She looked... helpless.

"Hey." She weakly called out to me.

"Hey." I called back. "... You look awful.

"Back at ya bastard."

I smirked "So how they treating you here?"

"Well enough as can be expected."

"What have they told you?"

"Only that I lost about six inches of intestine. What happened after I went out?"

"I got Chang to give you first aid, otherwise you'd be dead."

"How'd you do that?"

"It didn't take much, all it took was a lost pinky."

She put her hand on her chest, "Aww, you maimed an old man for me!"

"Ah, he had it coming anyways. You getting saved was just a side benefit. I was able to pass it off to the police as a woun incurred when he put up resistance."

"Hff..." Shesmiled slightly and looked off.

"As soon as your healed up you'll be shipped back state side for your trial. You never killed anyone and your a minor, so your sentence should be late nonetheless. Cyborg told me the Jump City DA was going to try and wait until your 18 before pressing any charges against you so you have a better chance of being tried as an adult. I wouldn't worry too much about that though, because I told him that if he did something that underhanded I was going to make him a lady."

"And what about my brother's group?"

"All of them got carted off, Chang and his cronies too.I tell you, your brother was really pissed that you got hurt. When he saw me he freaked out and charged at me, despite the hand cuffs. Took both me and Cyborg to bring him down."

"Man... he can be a real idiot sometimes."

"I know what you mean, I have a littlesister that's a real bubblehead."

"Yeah."

About three minutes of awkward silence passed at this point.

"Listen, Shimmer, if you need a good lawyer or anything, I got more money than I know what to do with."

"No, I'm fine Reaver."

"You sure, because I can get you a robot version of Johnny Cochran if you want."

"As entertaining as that would be, no. I'm taken care of."

"There's has to be something I can do for you. You want me to bust you out of jail when your all healed up. I can do it nice and clean if you want."

She patted the air at me "No, it's fine Reaver, why are you offering to do all these things for me?"

I looked away. "I dunno, I just feel responsible."

"Why?"

"I..." I looked up at her. "I can't help but feel responsible for you. I should have just tied you up in a tree somewhere when you passed out outside of the hole and gone after Chang myself. I didn't have to involve you, much less depend on you, but I did and because of it you were hurt. I should have just done the job myself."

"Reaver... I would have beaten your ass if you did that. I had as much of a right to Chang as anybody else, maybe more since it was my base he took. You didn't coddle me, you didn't give me all the light work, you treated me as an equal, and for that I'm thankful, even if we're on opposite sides. I'm used to having everyone around me see me as Baron's little sister, and not as an actual fighter. Maybe now that will change.

"So, your not upset?"

"Not with you."

"Good." I stood up "You know that our time together doesn't change anything. If we see eachother in the field again I'm going to go all out on you."

She flashed me a full-on grin "Wouldn't have it any other way."

I turned to walk out "So long Selinda."

"Goodbye Reaver."

I stepped out and closed the door.

Shimmer put her hand behind her head "Hee hee, Selinda."

* * *

"Alright, I just finished filling out the last of those reports for the cops, or, mounties or whatever they're called up here, the T-Ship is all juiced up, all the bad guys are put away, and we're nice and thawed, now unless anyone else has something to take care of, we'regoing home!" Cyborg triumphantly pointed at the vessel.

I raised my hand "I have to go pee."

"Ditto." Raven droned.

"Then hurry it up! This fresh air is messing up my circuits." Cyborg scampered over to the T-Ship, hopped in the front cockpit, and started doing some pre flight thing.

I absent mindedly cracked my knuckles "He's like really big kid, ain't he?"

"You didn't see him two hours ago when he wascrying over what Chang did to the T-Ship."

"Yeah I could hear the sobs." I turned towards her. "Thanks for waiting for Shimmer to wake up."

Raven flipped her hand "Think nothing of it, I could tell you really needed to talk to her, and I'm glad you were able to get it out. I knew you were anxious over what you were going to say."

I blinked "... I really need to stop trying to hide stuff from the resident empath, don't I?"

She shrugged "It would definetly make things easier."

I laughed helplessly and walked off to piss.

Raven spoke up once again. "By the way, what did you have to talk to her about?"

"Why Raven, you didn't strike me as one to pry."

Her arms crossed "I'm not prying, just curious."

"I'm not going to bother saying it, you already know don't you?" I crossed the threshold of the automatic doors to the elevator.

Her only response was "...Hmm"


	47. Convene

"Okay, so let me get this straight. It's sort of like playing a guitar."

"Yep."

"Except it's really small, and it has colored buttons instead of strings."

"Uh-huh."

"And you have to hold down the button and hit the other strum button in order to do anything."

"You got it."

I blinked, holding the minature Gibson SG in my hands, a sleeping cat curled up next to me. "BeastBoy, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."

"Psshh, you only say that because you suck at it." BeastBoy stood up with another SG controller on a strap around his shoulder.

"That is true, but this is even worse than the game where you roll that ball around and take orders from the guy with the huge head."

"Hey, the King of the Cosmos is awesome!" He turned "Hey, Cy, you want in on this. I'll play you at Infected."

I shook my head and walked away, much to the surprise of the feline that fell off the couch without me to lean against. "Ya'll have fun playing fake guitar, I'm famished." I stepped over Raven, who for some reason was reading on the floor.

Starfire flew up next to me "If you are hungry Reaver, why not partake of some leftover Zorka stew, it is most delightful once the fungus is mature."

I grinned sheepishly "No thank you Starfire, I'm probably just going to go to go out. Snag something before we leave later."

Robin took a moment out of his rapid typing "Where?"

"...I kinda feel like Subway." I froze.

For a moment, you could hear a pin drop.

I slowly scanned the room to see if anyone had heard me, and unfortunately everyone present was staring at me.

* * *

One of the most reviled parts about being a Titan has to be the rules concerning food. Simply because there are so freaking many of them, especially those concerning BeastBoy's vegetarianism. 

The one that bites me in the ass most of all has to be rule 47, right next to the one about no open flame, that states that whenever somebody goes out for food, he/she must honor all requests for takeout as long as they can pay for it.

Little known fact about the Titans, they are all ravenous beasts. Everyone on the team is a growing teenager, is very active, and most of us use the calories for actual expulsions of energy or the spontaneous creation of mass. Even Raven is like that. When she isn't on one of her meditative fasts she can shovel it in. I can only liken feeding my teammates to throwing food into a bottomless chasm.

Which is why when I opened up the doors the nearest Subway franchise only a few minutes after if opened, the entire crew turned towards me and let out a collective groan. I shrugged and slapped down a list of about three dozen different sandwiches. "Tell me when the first one is done, I'd like the eat while I wait."

"Hey Reaver!"

I turned to around to search for the person calling me, "Hey Schmidt!" I waved at the police officer, who as always was eating something. In this case a foot long submarine sandwich.

"Come here and have a seat you sonovabitch." He scooted out a chair opposite him. I planted myself.

"Working hard I see, making sure that the citizens of Jump City are getting their tax dollars worth."

"Hey, everyone's gotta eat. What about you? Three orphanages could be fed with that order."

"Or five teenage superfreaks and one chump."

He shook his head "No shit?"

I nodded "No shit." He chuckled lightly through a mouthful of turkey. "I get roped into all kinds of crazy-ass crap. Like thatclusterfuck of a mission in Canada last week."

"Oh yeah, I heard something about that. Word is that you kicked some ass."

"Yeah, that's true. But I wish I didn't have to all the damn time. A guy can only get shot so many times before he gets sick of it."

He paused "...Can't say I've been there."

I chuckled "I don't expect you to."

"But they're your friends, and that makes them worth it."

I leaned back "I guess."

He rolled up his wrapper. "Well, I gotta get back on patrol. Chief'll have my ass as is."

"Later Schmidt." I waved.

"Hey, are you gonna be at that thing later, over at the convention hall?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"I might bring my niece by, she'd love an autograph."

"Please, it's going to be embarassing enough as is, I don't want anyone I know to be there."

"I'll make sure to buy a whole stack of posters then."

"Your an ass."

"Don't you know it." And he walked out.

* * *

A not very well known fact about superhero life is the tremendous cost associated with it. I'm not solely talking about the giant Tower I live in nor all the gadgets we go through. I'm talking about collateral damage, injuries, disaster relief, all that stuff. In an average fight, the Titans cause about a million dollars worth of damages on a good day. Some of it is paid for by the city, but most of it comes from merchandising. 

Shoes, posters, action figures, play sets, video games, clothing, memorobilia, snack food, toys, even mousepads, all of whichhas at least one superhero's face stamped on it. Not to mention the stuff people sell on E-bay. I checked on there once and saw that one of my damaged glocks I left behind was selling for four thousand bucks.

Which leads me to what I was doing that day, which was attending a convention simply called Super-con. The biggest distribution center and launch location for vigilante-themed items in the world. As well as the largest gathering of Superhero enthusiasts, big and small.

And what was I doing there? At the moment, I was pondering.

I had snuck away after I spent two hours pandering to several hundred hero-worshipping fanboys/girls by signing whatever the hell they shoved at me. I was enjoying an exceptionally delicious hotdog on a bench in the concourse of the convention center. As I reached the halfway point in my meal I looked up to see a small gaggle of people walk by that were-crap, what's the word for it?-cosplaying, that's it, as several of the Titans. I noticed more than one frame draped in a trenchcoat with a gaudy, plastic claw mounted on the right hand. I shook my head disparingly.

I try not to judge people. I try to believe that people have reasons for the things they do. But when I look at these hundred-plus people that had decided that I was hot shit in a champagne glass, I got a little miffed. These people knew nothing about me, they just decided that I was badass and cool because of what they had seen on T.V. and heard about. They didn't even know enough to recognize me from the masses of costumed fans that paraded.

I've always hated moment like this, because they make me take a hard look at who I am.

I'm not something to be idolized or adored. This is something I have known for a very long time.

I am not a nice person.I may sacrifice my body for the benefit of others, but that is hardly a commitment. People see me take five slugs in the chest to protect somebody and assume that I am being altruistic. This is a fallacy however. Everyone sees taking a bullet for someone as one of the greatest sacrifices a person can make, but when a 9mm tunnel through your chest can be fixed with a second and a half ofeffort, it isn't really worth anything, is it?

I always work for myself. Against Death's Apprentice it was for professional integrity, against Comet it was for my own satisfaction, against HardRock it was self-preservation, against Control Freak it was anger, and against Chang and Hive it was responsibility. None of it was because it was the right thing or because I felt it needed to be done. It was all for selfish reasons.

If only these people knew who I was, I bemusedly thought to myself.

I was shaken out of my reverie by the sudden presence of someone else sitting next to me. I looked up to see a young man, maybe halfway through his teenage years. He was a shorter kind of guy but with a wider frame. Brown bangs hung down to frame his slightly acne riddled face, but from the way he held himself he was visibly tired.He was dressed casually and holding a bag of swag. His face turned to me and nodded "Hey."

I replied after taking a moment to finish off my hot dog. "Yo."

He leaned forward with a casual sigh and crossed legs rubbing his foot inside his shoe. "Man my dogs are barking. I just stood in line for three hours at the Titan's autograph booth."

"You must be a pretty big fan then."

"Aren't you? That's one of the best Reaver costumes I've seen the whole con!"

I looked down at myself. "Oh...yeah. Um... I guess I kinda forgot about it."

"Heh." He extended his hand "Name's Tom by the way."

"...Vic." I hesitantly replied, making up a name on the spot.

"Well then Vic, if your hoping to get yourselfone of theTitan's autograph I suggest you high tail it. The line is gonna stop accepting new people in, like, five minutes." He pointed with his thumb towards the general direction of the hall. "Reaver even left early. I'm just glad I went to his line first."

"He left already? What an ass!"

He chuckled slightly, "Yeah maybe a little."

I was silent for a few moments. "Hey Tom, tell me something."

"What?"

"Why do we... honor the Titans the way we do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, showing up at cons, waiting for hours to get autographs, shelling out hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year for toys and stuff, all that!"

"Well, um, why do you ask?"

"Maybe I'm just curious, humor me."

"Well... they're just... cool."

I paused "...Cool?"

"Yeah, the Titans are cool."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"I am, I am, just let me get to it." He took a deep breath. "They're the good guys, and it's really cool that there _can _be good guys anymore. I see all these guys like Control Freak, and Killer Moth, and H.I.V.E. doing all this bad stuff, y'know, super-crime as it's called. The Titans are always there to stop them, no matter what. I was around when Terra turned to the other side, and it was awful. I was afraid to go outside, there were robots in the streets, the Titans were nowhere to be found, but as soon as they showed up things were right again in about two hours. I always see people on T.V. blasting how superheroes do things, that the Justice League doesn't have the right to stick it's nose into the business of other countries, how some guy is complaining about how he got a bruise when Robin punched him or some such crap. Despite all these people criticizing the way things are, they always are out there, making sure that Jump City is safe. I'm just constantly amazed by how hard they all work and how much they're willing to sacrifice, and this new guy Reaver, seems no different. I saw a news clip of him taking a shotgun blast to the pelvis to protect someone in a bank. That's dedication."

"But he was healed in less than a minute."

"So? He still took a shotgun for someone he didn't know, so what if he got healed up. He's still a hero in my book."

I stared at him for a few seconds "Thanks Tom. I guess I just needed someone to refresh my perspective."

"No problem, and if you ever need to see another reason to venerate the Titans just look around you, this whole city is reason enough."

I stood up "Later Tom."

"So long Vic, take care."

* * *

That night I slept better than I had in weeks.


	48. Blood

Around teno'clock at night, on an exceptionally humid day in mid July, I was standing in the hall of the Tower, knocking on Raven's chamber door. I fidgeted slightly, looking a little nervous.

I could life-sence the goth girl was floating a few feet off of the surface of her floor, deep in a meditative trance. For a moment I thought that she hadn't heard me before her life sign floated towards me.

The door slid open a crack and there I stood. My hands were behind my back and was wearing my trench coat as normal.

She inquired, sounding slightly annoyed "What?"

I bowed down and spoke "Good evening Raven, I have come with a request. If I may trouble you for a portion of a spell component."

Raven looked down at my bowing form. "What is it?"

"Several things actually."

Raven stared at me for a second before the door opened fully. She turned with a slight flutter of her cape andwalked over to a chest of drawers andbeganflipping through some papers in the top drawer when she turned around. I still stood in the hallway, hands behind my back. "Reaver?"

"Yes Raven."

"You can come in."

"Really?"

"Of course you can."

She turned back to the drawers. I took a hesitant step inside. The place was lined to the walls with shelves and shelves of books. Macabre statues sat on pedestals and shelves most everywhere. Her bed was presumably in a different room of her wing. On the far side of the room there was a small cushion, I surmised it was to be used for a seat during meditation. I noticed that it smelled like flowers.

I slowly walked over to Raven. "Forgive my trepidation, I've heard stories about how you've been... protective of your room."

"Let my guess, BeastBoy?"

"Correct."

"He's snuck into my room on more than one occasion, more or less just to say he did it. I've caught him a few times, it wasn't pretty."

"Yeah, he said that he still has welts."

"He probably does. Now what is it you came for? Frankenscence, silver, oils, candle wax mixed with demon blood? What?"

"Just some candles, a silver knife, andpowdered diamond."

Raven halted. "Powdered diamond? What are you doing that requires powdered diamond?"

"Look, do you have any or not. I'll be sure to replace it. You know I'm good for it, I just ran short and I forgot a foot-locker of casting stuff back in Cleveland."

"Reaver, that's a top shelf component, used only in greater incantations, what could you possibly be using it for?"

"Do you have it or not?"

Raven started rummaging around in one of the drawers and pulled out a small leather satchel. "I've got about half a pound here, how much do you need?"

"All of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be going. I'll be sure to bring back any extra." I reached a hand out for the satchel.

She grabbed my hand. "I'm helping you."

"What?"

"You heard me, I'm helping you. Whatever spell your casting your going to need some help doing it."

I began to protest but stopped. No need to upset her unnecessarily. "Very well Raven, but I'm warning you. It isn't going to be pretty, my magic isn't what most people would call regular in the least."

"I'm sure I can handle it."

"Very well then." I snatched the satchel and began marching out of the room, Raven hot on my heels.

A minute later we were standing outside of my workroom. Not my workshop, my workroom. This was the room Robin had left up to me when it came to decoration.

I put a keycard into the door's slot, followed by a long numerical code. The door slid open, and the sight inside made Raven gasp.

The entire inside of the room was solid stone. The walls were finely carved solid granite slabs that were polished to a shine. A marble pillar was resting in every corner that depicted runes and glyphs of varying shapes and sizes that seemed to swirl together and interconnect. The deep furrows in the rock connected the marble slab that was the floor. The floor was a five sided pentagram that was also decorated with even more symbols. The only light in the room came from hundreds of different candles, more than one of which were made from my own fat.

"What is this place?"

"My casting chamber, or at least it will be when the rune circle in the center is finished." I kicked at a nearby pillar "And I tell you, it was a bitch getting these slabs in here, each one weighs like five hundred pounds, I had to rent a dolly and-"

Raven shook her head "Wait, why are you making a room like this in the first place?"

"For casting, believe it or not but this is pretty standard for a Lifeblood user's casting chamber. Each one has to be carved and enchanted by the mage himself, or it won't work. I'm just glad that I've finally lived here long enough for my energy to put it's signature into this place."

"You've done this before it take it."

"Yeah, but never one this big or extravagant. You of course know the basic rule of magic shaping, all magic has to be shaped with either the Mind, Body, or Soul. You, Raven use your Soul so you don't need much in the way of a circle or reagents to cast, just some words and the proper force of will. I use my Body, so what I need to shape needs to be more... substantial."

"However your form is far easier to learn and execute."

"...Watch it."

"Hmm..." She casually leaned against a carved pillar. "What is it that you need me to do?"

I took off my coat and set it down next to the door. I then turned to Raven. "Sure you want to go through with this?"

She took a final scan of the room before turning to me and nodding. I nodded back.

"Very well, it will take some last minute changes to accomodatean aide but that should be easy enough. You don't have a problem with blood do you?"

* * *

At the first stroke of midnight we began the ritual. 

The stone walled room was illuminated with a hundred candles, casting the chamber in a flickering orange light. Burning bowls of incense were smoking away in the corners, giving the room a husky, acrid stink.

In the middle of the pentagram I stood, bare-chested and sweating. I had been standing there doing the pre chantings for the last hour, preparing myself in mind and body for what was about to come. Raven stood sans cloak behind me, she too had been chanting all this time. I was impressed with her, the spell she was reciting was very complex and she hadn't slipped up once.

The time had come to begin the ritual in ernest. I reached down to my belt and grabbed a fat satchel of diamond dust. I opened the container and grabbed a handful of the stuff. I tossed it into the air and then grabbed another handful and did the same.

The dust did not fall to the ground, but rather stayed suspended in the air. Within seconds the entire room was filled with thousands of tiny sparkling motes. I took a quick glance around, inspecting the air to make sure it was evenly distributed before I continued.

I stopped my chanting, and at the exact same moment so did Raven. I glanced back to her and nodded, she nodded back.

Now came the hard part. I reached into my belt once again and drew from it a curved silver dagger. With this knife I drew a long, deep cut along my forearm. I grimaced and focused myself to keep the blood back for a moment, regenerating a thin layer of clotted blood over the wound. I quickly drew a matching cut along my other forearm.

I turned back to Raven to see her doing what I had told her. She held a smaller knife and drew a pair of matching, tiny cuts on her palms. She drew her bleeding hands to her chest and looked at me. I grimly nodded. She put her hands out in front of her and I flexed my arms, breaking the thin cover of flesh.

Blood cascaded from our wounds and into divots in the stone. The blood began to pool and work it's way down the tiny channels in the rock. Mine flowed freely in a hemophiliac-like torrent, Raven's was more controlled, but nonetheless pivotal. Over the next few minutes the blood would flow out of us and into the channels in the rock as the diamond dust fell and mixed with the flow, it would harden into a red crystal, rendering the entire floor smooth as glass as well as completing my circle.

I looked up from my self-massacre to see Raven still trickling herself into the stone divots from the small slashes in her palm. At that point she had lost about a pint of blood, enough to no doubt make the petite girl feel woozy, but she continued regardless.

"It's safe to talk now Raven, the incantation just needs time to finish itself. Thank you Raven, but you've done enough. The circle is almost complete, I'll be able to finish it on my own."

She bit her lip "...I'm fine.

"Whatever you say. Seriously though, thank you Raven. I had grown accustomed to performing this spell by myself, I'd forgotten how much easier it was with another caster."

"We're a team Reaver, you don't have to do everything by yourself, it's okay to ask for help every now and then."

"I guess so." I smiled slightly at her, but she seemed not to notice.

As I spoke, the blood continued to weave it's way through the channels in the rock, forming into a complex mish-mash pattern of crimson lines. My blood moves fast, filling up about three quarters of the circle before Raven's has taken even a sixth. My flow crisscrosses and makes contact with hers.

And that was when everything went to crap.

I heard a sizzling pop, and before either of us could react, I was surrounded by a ring of fire in the flaming shape of my rune circle.

Everything seemed to slow to a snail's pace. The fire rocketing along the circle like ignited gasoline crawled along, I had time to notice that the hundreds of candles had all been cast into a vile looking red, Raven hadn't even had time to changer the expression on her face. The fire slowly shrunk into a tighter circle, centering on me. I realized this, but my body had locked up, unable to move.

Time snapped back to speed,but it was too late for me to do anything. The fire flew up the blood flow from my arms and, ignited my veins.

Never beforehad Ifelt a level of mind raping agony as I did in that room. I do not know nor do I wish to knowthe words to describe it, for such curses would no doubt blacken and scorch the tongue of the one who spoke them. The blood in my body scorched the insides of my vessels, charred my lungs, burned my guts, popped my eyes,and blasted my brain. I suddenly lacked to ability to form a coherent thought, so I did the only thing I could...

I screamed.

I screamed until my voice became a low grating thing, I screamed until my vocal chords burst, and I screamed until no noise came forth, only flaming hot blackened ichor sprayed from my lips.

I fell then, I know not how far, only that the cooler rock of the floor soothed my warped and hell-blasted flesh. I like to think that that little bit of relief is what finally forced me into unconsciousness.

Raven scooted herself back up against the wall, staring at my ruined and smoking body in the centerof the flamingglyphwith a horrified grimace. She choked back the load of bile in her throat and waved a hand, dismissing the now mundane fire with a conjured gust. She ran to me then and desperately clutched my head, checking me for any signs of life.

"By Azar, what have I done? Reaver! REAVER!"


	49. Why I love my friends

"Beep... beep... beep... beep..."

Only on a deeply subconscious and visceral level am I aware of my surroundings, much in the same way a sleeping person can sense changes in their environment. The only constant is the slow, rhythmic electronic beat of the dozens of machines around me. A snake's nest of sanitized rubber tubes extend out of my mouth, even more from the holes in my chest. A dozen small, flexible lifelines are all that separate me from the cold embrace of death, each one extending out of a large plexiglass tube of thick liquid that I'm suspended in, The liquid is warm, comforting. I hear the rhythmic pump of my own electronic heartbeat, feel the heat of the liquid surrounding me, the umbilical cords giving me life, and for the longest time I dream that I'm hidden in a womb, safe, comforted.

"Beep.. beep.. beep.. beep.."

Inwardly, I subconsciously smile at my own comfort and happiness. I feel very little in that state, but all those feelings are... something. My mind cannot call forth the words for this feeling, it's too transcendent. All I can know is that I love every second of it. I can't imagine life without this feeling. The subconscious fugue of my mind basks in this feeling as it slowly heals, regaining more of itself. The growing consciousness giggles at it's own expanding abilities.

"Beep. beep. beep. beep."

Very suddenly, black tendrils of memory slink of the abyss of my brain, latching onto the slowly healing consciousness. Images explode into the small mind of this being, horrible images of violence and anger, men and women slaughtered, children left crying over long dead corpses, soldiers staring at their slowly cooling entrails on the dirt.

"Beepbeepbeepbeep."

My mind recoils in horror, not because of the images, but because I'm the one _performing _these grisly acts. The sensation of blades cutting into flesh, how little resistance is felt when a man is ripped in half. Even as the wondrous feeling that my mind was bathing in is torn away, the mind which now knows of itself as Reaver realises what that feeling was, innocence.

"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

The rhythmic heartbeat is stopped, replaced by a long drone and a wave of what I recognise as pain. A subsonic scream echos in my skull, shattering the black tethers of memory, but they're insidiously still there, their poison infecting my thoughts. I curl up into a mental ball and hide in a corner of my thoughts. In a bright flash and a sudden crackle of energy, everything is as it was. A budding mind in a shattered brain, a feeling of transcendent serendipity coursing through it's being.

Several hours later, the previous events would occur again, exactly as they had several hours previous.

--------------------

"His heart stopped again."

From behind a glass case, much like he's staring into an aquarium with the world's ugliest fish inside, is Cyborg. He's busily watching over a complex board of controls and diodes, all monitoring my every bodily function. He hazards a glance up at my body to see that not much has changed since the last time he looked. My body is still floating in the middle of a long plastic tube that's filled with a clear blue gel, except for the area around me that's stained a reddish hue.

Cyborg nods at the devices and swivels in his chair, turning towards Robin who is intently looking over a long printout."Two lacerations on the under forearm, first degree burns on ninety percent of his skin, cauterization of eighty percent of his blood, burns in all arteries and veins, second degree burns on the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, intestines, stomach, brain, bladder, and kidneys, massive muscular trauma, severe nerve damage, and massive dehydration." Robin let out what was left of his breath

"And that's not all man, the blood trapped in his arteries is acting like forty years of eating nothing but cheese covered butter, it's like he has the hoover dam in his his chest. All of his limbs are getting no blood flow, and if it wasn't for the bio-med gel he's suspended in they'd go gangrenous. His body is rejecting almost all of the medecines I'm pumping into him and his brain is still a half deflated husk. If it were anyone else I'd just pull the plug."

"What about his own healing ability?"

"The fact that he's surviving his bi-hourly heart attacks I'm chalking up to that. Most of the actual healing is being done by his regeneration, but you know how slow his subconscious control is. For every thing he fixes something else breaks. It's gettin' us nowhere."

"Where are Starfire and BeastBoy?"

"Still asleep, they're gonna tear me a new one when they find out that this happened and I didn't wake them, but right now they'd just get in the way. There'll be plenty of time for them to freak out tomorrow... if he's still alive tomorrow that is."

Robin planted his forehead into the palm of his hand and sighed. "How did this happen?"

"You tell me dawg, first I heard of it was Raven squaking over her communicator like BeastBoy when he's at the zoo. Next thing I know I'm dumping Reaver into a tank of bio-med gel after I got down gawking at how messed up he was."

"So Raven might know?"

"Ask her." He nods at the half forgotten dark girl in the corner, curled up on the chair wrapped in her cloak protectively. She looks, inexplicably frail. Robin turns at her, and for a moment she meets his gaze before shying away from him.

Robin steadily walks over to her and very plainly says "What happened?"

"..." She looks down and away.

"Raven, I asked you a question. What happened?"

"I..." She glances up at his expressionless face for an instant before continuing. "I made a mistake."

"What kind of mistake?"

"He... asked me to help him complete a spell, to make a casting circle. Something went wrong and..." She trailed off "...It's all my fault."

"Why is that?"

"The blood in the circle, some of it was mine, and when it mixed... something went wrong."

"Something in the department of all of his blood heating up to a few hundred degrees."

Raven squirmed in her seat.

Robin sighed "Can you help him?"

"..."

"Raven, you understand Reaver's powers more than anyone else here, your spells may be the only thing that can possibly help him!"

"..."

"If you don't help him, Reaver is going to die. Not 'might die' or 'probably will die', Reaver _will _die, floating in that tube like an unfed goldfish. Do you really want that?"

Raven just stared at him pensively.

"He'd do it for you."

Raven looked down, and then slid her feet to the floor. Very slowly and nervously, she shuffles over to the viewing window.

Very little has changed with me in the previous minute and a half except for the fact that a small blockage in my feeding tube has left my body kind of hungry. I'm not aware of this however, because of the whole death's door thing. Cyborg turns to her "Any input would be gold right now Raven."

"His... his body isn't in any real danger."

"Pfft, I beg to differ. I've seen corpses in better shape than he is right now."

"No, it's not that. He could heal himself, if he was still all there. The pain of what he experienced destroyed his mind, but I can sense his thoughts slowly returning. His mind is coming back to the way it was, but every few hours it... resets."

"Resets? How?"

"It's hard to explain, it's like he's on the brink of healing his mind, but whenever he reaches this one point in his recovery, his mind backlashes and, fries itself back down to almost nothing.

Cyborg raises his fleshy eyebrow "So, his heart isn't stopping because it's too hard for it to pump, it's stopping because every few hours his brain loses the ability to make it pump."

"I think so."

Cyborg leans back in his swivel chair. "Oh, then that changes everything."

Robin leans in and with excitement edgeing his voice says "It does? How?"

"Yeah, instead of thinking that there might be something I can do to help him, now I _know _that there is absolutely nothing I can do to help him!"

Robin gives him a disappointed stare.

"Don't look at me like that Robin! You know as well as I do that I can't do a damn thing to repair his brain! He's a vegetable, his brain is nothing more than a useless lump of fried shit three feet above his ass! I can't help him! DAMMIT!" Cyborg stands up with a balled fist and plunges it into the wall, making a eight inch crater in the steel.

Robin patiently waits out the temper tantrum before continuing. "What about nano repair, rebuilding his brain on a cellular level?"

Cyborg excavates his arm from the wall "I already thought of that, I'd need a full mapping of his entire nervous system to upload into the bots for it to do any good."

"Can that bio-med gel regenerate brain tissue?"

"No, the gel just creates brand new blank cells, which is fine for skin and muscles, but it would leave his mind with no memory or ingrained thought process. We'd be lucky if he had the mind of an infant."

Robin sits and leans his head into his hands "There has to be another option."

"I dunno man, maybe the JLU would have something for us, but I highly doubt it. Up until now, I was counting on Reaver to heal his brain himself, but if Raven is right, then our gun toting freakshow is a goner."

Robin sighs "Raven is there any chance at all that you're wrong, any chance at all?" There's no response "Raven?"

The Boy Wonder turns about to find the dark sorceress is gone.

--------------------

Raven is in her room, robe dropped on the floor, frantically tearing through stacks of books, haphazardly searching for something. "Where is it? Come on where did I put it?"

She kicks aside a stack of tomes older than herself and looks behind them. "Where? No, come on. Where could it be?" She starts to scan bindings on her bookshelf, passing by dozens of books.

Finally Raven settles her gaze on one book in particular. It has green binding and is actually quite thin. Frantically she tears it open.

The pages are blank, cut in the center of the book is a section that has been carved away painstakingly. In the recess of the book is a small steel key. Raven snatches the item and lets the book drop to the floor as she quickly walks over to a door into another section of her room.

Raven quickly types a code into the door, and gets an affirming beep in response as the door slides open. She flicks a lightswitch as she walks into the room.

The room is lined with large metal bins, all of which had enormous heavy padlocks securing them. This was one the rooms that Raven rarely had cause to enter, for it's only purpose was to hold books and items that were very, very dangerous, too much so for them to be stored in the Titan's evidence room. Tomes that detailed paths to damnation and power, spells of disastrous power, items that carried with them malignant intelligences, anything that was powerful, magical, and in the Titan's possession was in this room, kept safe via adamantine reinforcements, Cyborg's most advance security systems, and the strongest wards Raven could muster.

The blue headed girl took a deep breath as she approached one of the containers and very slowly unlocked the heavy padlock holding it shut, letting the device clatter to the floor. Unlocked, the bin automatically slid open with a hiss of hydraulics. Raven lifted the heavy object from within and pushed the bin shut, half-running out of the room.

She sets the large, white book on a reading stand and takes a step back. Of it's own accord the book flips open rapidly with a ruffle of pages before settling on a half torn page that depicts nothing more than a pair of striking, slightly slanted eyes. From nowhere, a calm voice says "Ah, Raven, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Malchior, I need your help."


	50. The Ocean of Memories

"Mix the frankenscence with the toad oil to form a paste, mix the paste with the wine enriched clay to form a loose base. Form this base into a small sculpture of your friend, it doesn't have to be very detailed, as long as you recognize it as your friend that will be enough. Put a personal possession of your friend's on the figurine to form a link to him. Very good, now all that's left is the incantation and it shall be done.

Raven wiped the soggy clay from her hands onto a towel and inspected the crudely made simulacrum sitting on the floor in front of her. It didn't really look like anyone at all, but she decided to trust Malchior's word, probably because she didn't have any other choice. The incantation was a short one, only a handful of verses that were easy enough to pronounce. When she finished the figurine had a hard, glossy shell. She crossed her arms "There, it's done.

"Very good Raven. That spell will keep your friend from getting any worse for a short while at least." The page's eyes narrowed "As well as keep him safe from any incompetent hiccups you make along the way."

"Just tell me what I'm supposed to do next."

"Right then, based off of what you've told me so far and what I've divined myself, your original hypothesis was correct. Your friend's mind is constantly backlashing on itself as it heals, and his body is paying the price."

"Well, what can we do? His powers make him immune to my healing."

"His problem isn't physical, silly girl, it's mental. Something is wrong with his train of thought, and it can't place itself on the path to recovery. Due to the speed of his degredation, there is only one option available to us at this time."

Raven interrupted "A supernal mind-scape jaunt."

The book's eyebrow raised "You were paying attention. Yes, similar to your mirror, a portal to his mind-scape will be necessary if he's going to see tomorrow's sunset. You know what you need, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She stood up and dusted off her legs, shuffling over to one of the many shelves littered in jars and boxes.

Malchior called from his stand "And Raven, I hope I don't have to remind you of the dangers of a jaunt into another person's mind, much less one that's as shattered as your friend's?"

"Showing concern for your old pupil Malchior?"

"Perish the thought, but if you were to be reduced to a drooling mess from having your mind self killed then it would be rather difficult collecting on my end of the deal..."

"And we can't have that."

"No we can't Raven, no we can't."

* * *

"Your going to do WHAT!" 

Raven sighed "Jaunt into his mindscape and fix his mind, after that he'll regenerate naturally."

Cyborg paused for a moment "...You sure you didn't suffer some brain damage girl? Cuz' you ain't making a lick of sense!"

She grit her teeth "It's the only way, if I don't do this he'll die."

"Ain't happening! This guy has been teetering on the brink for the last sixteen hours, a dirty look might finally do him in, I am not letting no blue-headed witch go leaping in his skull, much less the one who did this to him!"

"..." Raven stared.

"...Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, but I'm still not letting you do it."

"If we don't do this Cyborg, we should just start picking out burial plots."

"There's gotta be another way, hey ya'll tell her it's a bad idea."

BeastBoy said from his cross-legged sit on the floor "I dunno man, sounds a little risky."

Starfire never took her eyes off of the husk in the tank as she remained silent.

The Boy Wonder off to the sides stood up from his stool. "What exactly will you be doing Raven."

"An Supernal mind-jaunt. Effectively I'll be reaching into another dimension, the one that holds his mindscape. You and BeastBoy did the same thing last year when you found my mirror."

"Is it at all dangerous?"

"I won't lie, yes, it is very dangerous-"

Cyborg piped in "Ah HA!"

"-but there's a good chance of his recovery, and if I don't do it then he will die, regardless of what Cyborg does."

Robin pondered for just a moment before saying "This is a team matter, I say it be a team decision."

Raven raised her hand "I'm for it."

BeastBoy said from his cross-legged sit on the floor "Speaking as someone who's been in one of these mind-scraper thingies, I gotta say no-go. There has to be a better way."

Cyborg indignantly pointed his thumb at himself "I think ya'll know how I feel."

Robin turned "What about you Star?"

"..."

"Star... Star!"

"Hmm?" She hastily turned towards him.

"How do you vote?"

Starfire looked back and forth between the tank and her friends, anxiously chewing on her lip. "Oh, I do not wish to see my friend in this condition any longer. I cast my vote for the mental projection."

"I guess that leaves just me then, Raven, do it."

"SAY WHAT!" Cyborg all but shouted.

"If Raven says this is the only way, then I believe her. Starfire, BeastBoy, for the time being this room is off limits, and Cyborg I want you to do everything you can to help her."

"But-"

"That's an order."

Cyborg grit his teeth for a second before responding "...Fine."

Robin nodded and went out the sliding door, closely followed by his melancholy teammates. Both Cyborg and Raven turned to eachother.

"If this doesn't work Rae..."

"I'm well aware Cyborg, now we've got work to do.

"Yeah... I know." Cyborg pouted "Man, fuck democracy."

* * *

"Every living person's mind has a supernal realm. It's a place where the processes of thought and feelings are abstractly represented. When a consciousness is born a realm is carved out of the aether, the place of raw magic between dimensions, to represent them. It's a proven fact. Mine was represented as that amalgam of floating stones in the center of the cosmos, but a mindscape can be anything. A single room, an expansive castle, a place of neverending conflict, each one is unique to that person. The only common thread is that they are always hazardous to outside influence, such as a foreign entity jaunting into one. With what we know about Reaver's personality and feelings, it will most likely be even more so." 

Cyborg looked up from his readout display, "Then why not bring somebody with you?"

"I'm the only one who has any idea of what to expect, and we don't have enough time for me to concoct a spell that will be powerful enough for me to bring someone other than myself." Answered Raven as she slid one of her overstuffed chairs into the center of a perfect circle written in gold dust and powdered teeth. "It has to be me and me alone." She set herself down in the large chair.

"How long will this take anyway?"

"My spell will last for twelve hours, and it can't be cancelled early."

"Great." Cyborg fiddled with a display on his arm "Looks like I'll be turning down the ole' sleep module."

"I'm ready now Cyborg, and I see no reason to wait around. If you have any more questions..."

"Naw, I'm good Rae, do your thing."

"Right." The blue headed sorceress took a deep breath and released a slow exhale. "Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..." The girl's eyes flashed grey for an instant, a sound liken to that of shattering glass was heard, and she slumped down in her chair, seemingly unconscious."

Cyborg nodded in her general direction, "Now comes the hard part, keeping BB from drawing a moustache on her for the next twelve hours."

* * *

Raven had spent the last several hours preparing for this instant, mentally bolstering herself to be able to withstand the hostile environment she was thrusting herself in. 

Which is why the first sensation she felt only half caught her by surprise.

For a fleeting instant she felt she was falling before she splashed into what felt like blood-warm sea that sent an electric tingle through her body. A rush of water that felt as though she were licking a liquid 9-volt battery flowed into her mouth. She didn't dare open her eyes.

She resisted the instinct to inhale, instead silently chanting her mantra. A expanding sphere of black energy burst into being around her, settling a few feet from her body, providing her with a much needed sanctuary in the depths.

Raven took a moment to stand up and wring out her cloak, which now weighed about a hundred pounds. "Well, so far so-" Raven cut herself short, for she sensed a presence, the presence of _things _beyong her shield.

Within moments she sensed hundreds of beings, seemingly swarming about her sanctum. Her eyes flashed, steadying her position in the abyss. After a moment's concentration, Raven willed the shield around her into shaded translucence, letting through the sights of the ocean.

Blue, all was enshrouded in a gentle blue aura, lighting up the entirety of the sea to her eyes. Hidden in this blue nimbus were spectres of white, almost reverse silhouettes limned in the electric-blue water. At first Raven believed these forms to be dancing, but a more attentive inspection revealed that that was not the case. Rather, the figures were fighting, each one paired off with one or more similarly silouhetted combatants.

Raven glanced to her left and saw the closest battle unfolding in front of her. A man bearing a sword was pushing back an unarmed man. He slashed left and right, missing by a wide margin each time, despite this the sword man bore a look of confidence. The unarmed man was stone-faced. The sword man feinted high forcing the unarmed man's guard up high. The blade flicked across, connecting with the unarmed man's left forearm. The limb dropped down to the space that seemed to be the ground, but before the the sword man could regain his stance the unarmed one lunged forward and plunged his hand up to the elbow in his gut. The sword dropped to the floor in a silent clatter. The now one armed man placed his foot on his opponents chest and bloodily tore out his fist, alongside a mass that could only be organs. The mass fell to from his hand, revealing a wicked, five fingered claw bonded to his hand.

"By Azar... that's Reaver." The blue sorceress stares at the spectres features, same hard jaw, same large body, and the signature claw. As she watched the scene reversed itself in a blink, resetting the fight to run exactly the same. Raven glanced around at the various similar scenes that played around her. A man fell with a hole in his head here, a woman was blasted away by a grenade there, and all were set in motion by Reaver. A grisly, infinite rehearsal of death performed by blue lined, ghostly marionettes.

Had her time been not of the essence, Raven might have considered spending some time exploring, pondering the existence and meaning of these figures, she did not however have this luxury. So with a flick of her wrist she sent her impromptu vessel skyward, breaking free of the blue surf within moments of travel.

Beneath her was the soft glow of the ocean of fighting ghosts, and above her was an impossibly low ceiling of shady dark grey clouds that occasionally danced with lightning. Torturously heavy rains fell from the dark clouds and glowing waves crested and fell beneath her.

Raven spun, looking all around her, but only saw the glowing sea and the dark clouds for hundreds of miles. "Damn, there has to be something. This can't be all that there is to Reaver's mindscape."

Acting on her first impulse, Raven flew upward, no doubt believing that a higher vantage point would be needed to see anything of note, but she decided to back off when a sudden bolt of lightning tore from the heavens and smashed into her shield, creating a series of spiderweb cracks along it's surface and giving Raven an instant migraine. She instead decided to back off, rubbing her head on the way down.

Upon reaching sea level, she bolstered the shield around her and summoned a small floating portal through which she had a clear view of the outside. Free from the shading effects of her force field bubble she was able to see a thin shaft of light, a small break in the roof of clouds several miles off.

"Finally." Raven positioned her scrying window to act as a view screen and flew along through the storm in her friend's mind.

As she progressed, Raven noted that the storm grew much worse. Rain tore through her viewing portal with fierce vehemency, thunderous booms were heard from dozens of lightning strikes. Raven glanced down and saw that the pooling water was at roughly ankle depth, and continued to flow in unheeded.

Raven suddenly shuddered as another bolt impacted her shield ball, with a similar result as the first one. Raven staggered to a stop, rubbing her head.

After spending a few seconds recovering, she continued on with her previous course, and was promptly impacted by another, stronger lightning bolt. Shards of energy flaked off of the shield as Raven fell to her knees, clutching at her temple.

"Nnnng..." Raven's orb was still. "It strikes when I move closer to the light, like it's guarding something." The goth girl stood up straight and propelled her orb forward at break neck speed, no longer even navigating via the scrying hole, just propelling herself on a forward course.

Another bolt streaked from the heavens, but only struck surf as Raven narrowly evaded the bolt, only to be struck again as yet another bolt zapped her shield, drawing yet another shudder from the sorceress.

"To hell with this." Droned Raven, as she simply waved her hands causing herself to vanish into a hole of darkness, reappearing several hundred yards closer to her goal, except with what for all intents and purposes was a force field umbrella over her head. She was only there for a second however before she mustered enough energy to teleport several hundred more yards. And it was in this fashion that she hopped her way towards her destination.

She didn't stop until she was within feet of her destination, and that was because she was staring hard at the spectacle. It was an island, not exceptionally large, perhaps three square miles. The center of which boasted an impossibly large spire of a mountain, almost a tower, that poked a hole in the low blanket of clouds. While the island itself was seemingly ordinary, but that was the problem. No storm waves pounded it's shores, no rain fell on it's palm trees, and no lightning struck it's sands. Indeed, several hundred yards from the shore of the island, the storm just stopped. One inch there was rain, the next was sun. The water even lost it's blue glow, and was replaced with a breath taking crystalline beauty. It was like looking at a resort island in a brochure.

Raven floated toward it and out of the storm, pulling up her hood for the first time since she'd arrived. Though it was sunny and bright, it wasn't exactly Raven's idea of ideal weather. Nevertheless, she floated towards the island, setting her booted foot down on the soft sands.

She placed her hands on her hips, and smirked at her surroundings. Tall, picturesque palm trees, cheery sun, forebodingly high mountain, and gently lapping surf.

"Hmm, not _exactly _what I imagined."

"Talking to yourself now Raven?"

The girl whipped around at the sudden voice, nimbuses of gray energy wrapped around her hands. Nearby a large rock was encased in a black aura.

The figure defensively raised a hand, "Easy, I'm not here to fight. I just need to speak with you."

Raven didn't lower her guard, but neither of them made a move which gave her a chance to take in the newcomer. He was dressed in a white suit with a power tie and slicked back hair. If Raven didn't know better she would have sworn he was a business tycoon or a used car salesman, except for the fact that she had a face he recognized.

Raven quietly uttered "Reaver?"

The man chuckled "Close but no cigar hon, but I can understand the confusion even though that schmuck never looked half as good as I do. You don't really want to see him now, he's sort of a mess. I'm just one of the many pieces of Reaver." The man reached under his jacket, and pulled out a cigarette case, placing one on his lips and lighting it as he spoke. "If you need something to call me, call me Professional."

"Well then, Professional, I need you to explain to my what happened to my friend."

"Later Miss Raven, for now we need to high-tail it out of here. I was the only one who was whole enough to come and meet you, but that doesn't mean that others aren't coming. The only reasion I got here first is because I'm one of the few left who can still actually think."

"What?"

Professional chuckled "Damn, you really don't know anything about your friend, don'cha?" He shook his head and flicked ash down onto the sands. "I'll explain everything you need to know later, regardless of what he wants, but for now we need to run. Fury is coming."


	51. The Island of Thought

"C'mon Ms. Raven, we don't have time to waste." Professional speaks as he turns about and presses back into the thick tropical foliage.

"Wait!" Raven scrambles after him. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you need to move now or Fury is going to turn you to paste, and here I was under the impression you were the smart one." Professional keeps on pressing through the jungle, pushing aside fronds and thick, ropy vines.

Raven takes two steps into the rough terrain before deciding to float rather than walk. "Well, where exactly is it your taking me?"

"Someplace safe until this blasted spell of yours burns out." He pushed past a large branch and stepped aside, holding it for the girl behind him to pass.

"What?" She remains still on her position on the path. "How do you know about that?"

"Brave told me, he's also the one who told me to come and get you. Son of a bitch is plenty persuasive when he needs to be."

"Okay, so are you taking me to this, Brave?"

"No, I'm supposed to take you back to my territory, after that I don't have any more orders regarding you. I'll have done my job and that will be it."

A blue eyebrow raised "How very... professional."

"Yes, it's dripping with irony isn't it? Now get moving or I'll knock you out and carry you."

Raven bemusedly floated onward down the path, Professional settling into a spot behind her.

It was only a fifteen minute walk before Raven was standing in front of what looked to be a large clearing, in the center of which was a large metal freight container, the kind that are stacked a dozen high on board a cargo ship. All around the container crate, were uniform black iron poles that had a large blue glowing crystal set into it. Twelve rows of twelve poles, with the crate set in the middle between them. Everything set up nice and neat and orderly.

Raven didn't pay too much attention to the order of the crystals, but rather the crystals themselves.

Professional spoke with a calm even tone as he walked through the poles up a makeshift walkway path made of neatly paved dirt. "This is my territory Raven, you should be safe here. It'll take hours for Fury to get over his failure of meeting you on the beach, and even longer for him to figure out it was me who took you."

Raven didn't hear a word, so focused she was on the crystal. It was unlike anything she had seen. It ebbed with subtle psychic energy in a flow she had never seen before. It suffused power and energy, but in a constant and predictable pattern.

"If Fury comes looking for you, I'll not fight him for you. You'll have to worry about your own hide if that happens. Is that clear?"

"What are these?"

"Hmm?" Professional turned about to see her regarding the crystals.

"What, the crystal? You do not need to know, it does not concern you. I suggest you get within their radius however, unless you wish Fury to find you all the sooner."

Raven hesitated a moment before striding forward between a pair of the posts. It was at that exact moment she seemingly stepped out of the dense, tropical jungle and into what looked like an industrial complex.

She didn't have time to study her surroundings as rapid gun fire erupted in front of her, ringing her ears and further confusing her.

"He's in the east corridor goddammit! Get some fucking men over here!" Raven glances left and sees a combat readied man throw a radio down from his face and put his other hand back on the stock of his rifle, letting loose a spray of rounds. Raven turns to glance at what he's shooting at.

It is a man, wide shouldered and tall. His garb would be right in place at war. Two pistols are holstered on his thighs and an assault rifle is on his back, held in place with a magnetic strap. His whole body is covered in black, not leaving any piece of his body exposed. His entire chest is covered in pieces of wargear, grenades, spare magazines, and a long combat knife just to name a few.

The dark man rolls to the side to avoid a spray of gunfire that tears into the concrete wall behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust. In a crouch he reached onto his back and grabs the stock of a Tec-9, letting loose a quick three round burst of fire. The guard's corpse hits the ground before the casings that felled him.

The man in black wastes no time, rushing forward next to the corpse. Ugly yellow light filters in from grimed over bulbs situated above him, illuminating murky water flowing a river with catwalks occasionally placed across it. A sewer, Raven realises.

The dark man breaks into a sprint, and Raven subconsciously follows behind.

He breaks left, fleeing across the catwalk to the other side of the river of filth. He glances up just as a shot rings out. The dark man jolts, clutching at his chest. Another crack of a gunshot and the man leans back with the force of it, tumbling off of the catwalk and into the murky sewer water below him.

Flashlights further down the corridor click on, illuminating a trio of armed guards. Two are armed with bull-pup assault rifles, the third is standing with a full length sniper rifle. A thin wisp of smoke is escaping from the barrel. The sniper turns to his companions and sternly says "No way he came in here alone! Fan out and find his backup!"

The two never got a chance to respond as a large shadowy shape lunged out of the rushing river of filth near them. The one nearest to the river had eight inches of steel jammed through his neck before he even had a chance to react. Their leader steps back, unsnapping the clasp to his sidearm. The dark man pushes off with the knife, slumping the man's corpse into the second guard who crumples under the sudden weight. The maneuver simultaneously draws the knife from it's recent kill. In one smooth motion the knife is hurled at the leader, the blade bisecting his forearm, sending his gun clattering to the ground. The dark man crosses the distance to him in one long stride. He grabs the knife and pulls his arm to the side, eliciting a pained scream from the man that is suddenly muffled when the dark man wraps his arm around his head and violently spins it, creating the gut wrenching sound of a snapping vertebrae followed by a splash as his limp body ragdolls into the filthy canal.

The guard's slumps his companion's bleeding corpse off of him and snatches up his gun. Before he can aim he feels uncomfortably warm steel press against his throat, drawing a narrow line of crimson across his jugular. His eyes widen and his body stiffens, but he has enough sense to remain still.

The dark man threateningly leaned over his impromptu hostage, knife held ready to tear his throat out. He spoke calmly and evenly, "I am going to ask you a short series of questions, of which I expect you to give short answers, no prattle, no threats. Follow these rules and you can walk away from this with your life and an interesting story to tell. Nod very slowly if you understand."

The guard nodded so slowly it was hard to tell if he was moving at all.

"Good. Where is your boss?" He pulled the knife an eighth of an inch away from the man's throat to allow him room to speak.

"Further down the corridor, near one of the pump control rooms." A slight edge of fear was in his voice, which was actually quite impressive.

"Is the girl there?"

"Yes."

"How many more are there of you and your men?"

"Ten all together."

"When are they expecting you back?"

"We should have made a radio comm already."

The dark man sighed before continuing. "Thank you, you've been very helpful. Your free to go."

A thin smile creeps onto his face and his body visibly relaxes with his sense of relief. The look of mirth stays plastered onto his face as his head falls to the ground with a meaty thump, blood pouring out of the neck stump in steady, rhythmic pumps.

Raven looks up at the dark man almost aghast, having barely caught the movement of his knife decapitating the man who he had promised life to. As she stares at him, she comes to the realization that she can feel his surface thoughts. Not hear them, _feel _them. It's like everything that goes through his head is laid out before her on sheets of paper that have all merged together into what at first appears to be gibberish. She realizes that she can't focus on any one piece, but has to view it as a whole for it to be translated into a method that makes sense.

She knows that he feels to no remorse, no sympathy, no mercy for the man that lies before him. She knows that his justification is that he would have fought back if he saw it coming, and he made sure that it would be quick and silent. A dignified way to go, no crying, no begging, simply an ending. In the back of his mind he hopes that he'll die in a similar fashion.

In a split second the dark man breaks into a sprint down the corridor, sheathing his knife as he runs. He leaves wet footprints from the sewer water that runs down his body. In his mind he thinks that speed is now more important than stealth. They're already alerted to the fact that the group they sent out hasn't called back, and if they are worth their salt they'll pull out with the girl rather than risk losing more men than they already have. His mind jumps back to the several weeks previous that have been spent tracking down these men, and the dark man realises that if they get wind that someone is on them it will be impossible to track them down again. This is his only chance.

His bulky form rounds a corner, glances down the hall, and dives to the floor as a spray of ordnance blasts chunks of stone off of the walls all around him. He rolls into a crouch and draws an uzi, hosing the corridor with hot lead. Screams and groans sound from the dark end of the corridor, followed by the unmistakeable sound of a body hitting the floor.

The dark man held down the trigger, easily handling the jerking weapon. Of it's own accord the gun stops, a casing lodged in the chamber. A one in a million jam. The weapon clatters to the floor as the dark man starts to back-pedal, hoping to put distance between him and his opponents.

The hidden figures open up with their rifles, spitting out long lines of hot tracer rounds. Ten find a home in the dark man's chest, each met with an unwilling grunt of pain. The dark man staggers under the assault before limply falling to the ground. Raven winces.

One of the two men flicks a switch in the pump control room, letting clean white light filter down from above onto the 3/4 dozen men standing in the room. One turns to the other, "Did we get him?"

The second glances down the corridor at the body laying in a pool of it's own blood. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that we did. Grab the girl and let's go. How's Mitch?"

"Dead." The mercenary kicked at his bullet riddled companion's corpse, a series of nine-millimeter holes in his body. "Better him than us, eh?"

"..."

"Mike?"

The man turns around to see Mike glancing about nervously "Where's the guy's corpse?"

Just then the overhead light vanishes with the sound of shattering glass. Before the men can even gasp in surprise a bloody gurgle is heard from amongst them. The darkness is split when one of them opens up in the direction of the sound only to fill one of his companions with shells. He does catch a startlingly short glimpse of the spectre in the dark by way of his muzzle flashes. Though it does little to help him amid the chaos and screams of the sewers.

After only a few violent moments, all noise has stopped in the chamber. This nothingness exists for only a few scant seconds before the shadows are cut by an igniting flare in the hands of the now standing dark man. He glances down at a petite form dressed in a grimy jacket and shorts that had gone unnoticed in all the fighting. She huddles away from the man, a look of stark terror in her features. The dark man asks "Claire Averson?"

She nods.

"I've been sent by your father, I'm here to bring you home." He extends a hand to help her to her feet, a hand which she tentatively takes. "Are you hurt?"

She shakes her head, the look of terror never leaving her face.

"Good. Now I must apologize first and foremost, but it is simply easier this way." The man reaches forward, pressing a rag to the girl's face. After a second of inhaling the vapors, she falls limp into his arms. The man slings her over his shoulder and starts to slowly walk away, holding the flare ahead of him to light the way.

Raven remains standing in the dark, watching the dark man leave because all of a sudden she cannot move her legs. She watches as the light fades away down the corridor, leaving her in darkness.

And then it's all gone in an instant. She was staring up at a roof of blue sky with absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.

"Took long enough, didn't it?"

Raven sits up and turns to see Professional crouched down near her, a half cigarette hanging loosely off his lip. "What-"

"You triggered a memory crystal Miss Raven, you just witnessed events that happened years ago. And in case your wondering, the man in black was indeed yours truly." He gestures towards himself with a mischievious smirk.

"What happened to the girl?"

"Woke up a few hours later, safe and sound in the hands of people who love her. What kind of professional would I be if I didn't deliver the goods when ordered?"

"How could that have been you? Your just an abstract representation of Reaver's psyche, you can't exist out of this place."

"Oh but it was me dear girl. Everything Reaver does is embroiled in a code of conduct he's made for himself. From the way he fights to the way he lives to the way he speaks, it's all part of what he considers proper. I'm the manifestation of that sense of honor, an avatar if you will. Each of these crystals hold the memories that have developed due to that sense of honor, therefore they exist in my domain and only mine."

Raven clutched at her suddenly pounding head, groaning slightly in pain. Professional scoffed "For what it's worth you helped Reaver a bit."

"What?"

"Don't tell me you can't sense it girl, use that lump three feet above your ass and find out for yourself."

Raven didn't need to be told twice. She closed her eyes and focused for a second, expanding her consciousness outward.

She could sense it, a sense of wholeness that existed in the mind of her friend that wasn't there before. Like a shattered plate that had two shards suddenly fused together. She glanced up at Professional and immediately understood.

"When Reaver's mind backfires on itself, it's putting all of these memories back at once. It puts too much pressure on his psyche and his mind breaks, making him even worse off than before. But by allowing this memory to surface early, then it isn't as jarring and he can accept it."

"Funny, isnt' it Raven. Reaver's speed healing is what isn't letting him heal. Irony is a bitch."

"All I need to do is get Reaver's memories to return at a more staggered rate, rather than all at once." She stood up. "Where should I go next?"

"I don't frickin' know."

Raven's shoulder's sunk. "Fine, I'll figure it out on my own then." The girl floated up and away.

Professional put one hand out for her. "Wait miss Raven."

"What?"

"Were you at all surprised by what you saw in the crystal? Did you know your friend was capable of that level of callous brutality? Because I know he's capable of far more than that my dear. There are several sides to your friend that he has never shown to you, or anyone for that matter. There's a reason why Reaver's raw mind can't accept itself, it's because it's a scary place. You'll need to make sure your ready to face that before you go any further."

"...Thank you for your concern Professional, but regardless I need to do this, no matter what I find out."

"It isn't concern Raven, just a fair warning so's you can't whine later on when this all blows up in your face." He grinned.

"...I'm leaving." Raven turned and flew away before the suited man could say anything else.

Professional simply shrugged. "Pfft, women." He made a flippant gesture and turned back to his container.


	52. The Jungle of Egos

An ace of hearts is covered by a deuce of the same suite. Below it, a red king is covered by a queen of spades, and then a ten of diamonds, then a nine of hearts.

BeastBoy stops for a moment, perks his head up in thought, and mutters "Man, I hate Solitaire."

The only other occupant of the room does not respond, but simply continues to stare out the window with green eyes. Rain splatters against the glass, making it all but impossible to see. "BeastBoy, how long has Raven been on her journey?"

"About four minutes later than when you last asked Star." The changeling moves the nine and replaces it with a like numbered spade.

A swish sounds as the elevator door opens up. Robin swiftly walks in with business-like candor.

Starfire glides over to his side "Robin! Tell me, is there any change in our friend's condition?"

Robin is shaking his head before she even stops talking. "None Star. That can be taken either way though. Technically Reaver is doing better since his heart hasn't stopped in more than two hours, so I guess that's somthing."

"Oh." Starfire looks down at the ground and sullenly floats a few inches lower.

Robin places a reassuring hand on her shoulder "Listen Starfire, if there is anything I trust Reaver to do, it's survive. Raven too. Neither of them would let this finish them off. We just have to stay positive and hope for the best."

"...Very well. I only wish-" The girl was cut off when the room was bathed in flashing red light and the piercing wail of a horn. Robin snaps out his communicator "Break in at Jump City First National. Titans, GO!"

BeastBoy vaults over the couch and makes a bee-line for elevator alongside a dashing Robin. Starfire hesitates for a second before darting forward.

Behind her, a flash of lightning illuminates the bay.

* * *

Raven continued to float forward on currents of telekinetic force. The heat had finally started to get to her, creating a slick sheen of sweat on her body that matted her hair and stuck her leotard to her body like a second skin. 

Regardless she presses on, pushing through the dense, tropical foliage, searching for more domains of her friend's mental avatars.

Raven' cloak tugs against her as it gets caught on a protruding branch. She yanks on the offending article, tearing off a sizable chunk of fabric.

Raven glares at it and resumes her trek, slowly pressing through the jungle.

The Sorceress gasps when her foot is suddenly enveloped by the earth. The rest of her body follows along with the erstwhile limb until she is hip deep in a large pool of mud.

"Uuuch." Raven vainly attempts to pull herself out for a few seconds before levitating her body free with a disgustingly drawn out 'Scchhlloouuuuck'.

Raven touches down on a solid section of ground and begins sloughing mud off of herself "Nnnng, who knew Reaver had such a dirty mind." She paused "I'm glad nobody was around to hear that." She turns around to continue onward...

'clack

'...and paused when her chakra stone tapped lightly against the barrel of a pistol held against her forehead.

Raven pulled in a sharp breath, sliding back an inch as she did so. Her vision narrowed down to a 10mm hole of black.

Nothing moved for an eternal five seconds before Raven decided to look at what was holding the gun.

Fat, was the first thing that entered Raven's mind, for an ample gut hung from the man's bare midsection. Stained and crusted pants covered his legs, and it was with a little annoyance that she noticed his fly was down. Patches of hair sprouted up wherever there weren't scars, excluding the face that sported at least five days of untended growth that was matted down with narrow channels of vomit. A mop of unkempt follicles was attached to his scalp, as if the man had just woken up. Brown bloodshot eyes poked out at her from the most impassive face she had ever seen.

The man's arm dropped, as if he believed the ground was a bigger threat than she was. He turned away from her and raised his other arm, pressing a bottle of Jack Daniel's to his lips. As he drank, he started to walk away. Raven wondered if he'd forgotten about her.

The Sorceress followed after him. "Umm, excuse me." The man ignored her. "Your one of Reaver's mental avatars, correct?"

The slovenly man continues to ignore her, trudging on through the tropics. Raven shrugs and follows close behind him.

As she follows, Raven quickly surmises that she is entering an avatar's territory. Though she didn't notice it before, but as she got closer to Professional's home, the path took on an orderly style to it. It was consistent in it's width and never had any wide curves, that and it entered directly into the front and center of Professional's clearing. A neat and orderly set up to the scenery.

This was different however, very different she noted. Everything was dirty to her eyes. A jungle was never a clean place, but the natural beauty of the scenery was sapped away. Everything was... dulled. Raven looked around at the diminished landscape. The trees drooped, the ground sagged, water sat in tepid unmoving pools, plants seemed so sullen they almost begged to finally die. Even the air had lost the uncomfortable mugginess, instead fading to a temperature that seemed to mirror her skin's. Sensation seemed to be hard to come by here.

Her guide seemed not to notice the feeling or lack thereof rather. He simply trudged onwards, sipping from the steadily disappearing bottle of Jack Daniels.

It didn't take long for Raven to reach what she could feel was this Avatar's home, and she was thankful for that. The feeling was not heralded by any change in her scenery as Professionals had been. She glanced towards her guide and saw him slump down on a small patch of bland moss. Raven heard low snores coming from the pile of humanity a few moment later.

Raven saw that just a scant few yards from the impromptu bed was a pile of bottles of varying shapes and sizes. Immediately she detected the same psychic resonance as the memory crystals from before emanating from the bottles.

She glanced down at the sleeping man. "Something tells me I'm not gonna like this." She sighed and stepped closer to the pile.

A second later Raven was mind-blastingly drunk.

She staggered for a moment, unable to properly balance herself. She cannot see anything around her, floating in a sea of hazy blackness.

A blaring sound tears through her skull and the world is suddenly awash in light. Her iris contracts painfully before she can get a clear view at what surrounds her.

It would be a nice place if it got cleaned up. One whole wall of the place was crystal clear bay windows, through it shined a murky yellow sun that seemed to just sit on the horizon. The light shined through the windows and filtered through dozens of bottles on the table and floor, creating a latticework of displaced light on the wall that could have been beautiful if it weren't for the circumstances. The painfully loud beeping train-wrecks in her eardrums again, causing a fresh lance of pain the plague her.

A clinking sound come from nearby and she sees the spitting image of the slothful man from the jungle sit up from underneath a pile of broken and unbroken glass. He shakes his head and staggers up to his feet.

The sound comes again, and this time Raven realizes with some effort that it's a phone's ringer. Sloven Reaver stumbles past an answering machine and takes a swat at it, knocking aside a mass of bottles and somehow clicking it over to voice mail.

A young, cheerful girl's voice filters through the small speaker. "Hey bro, just calling to see if you got my messages. If you did then give me a call back, and if you didn't...still give a call back!" The girl on the other end of the phone giggles helplessly. Raven notices that Reaver doesn't seem to be listening.

The girl on the other end continues. "I know your busy, what with work and all, and you may not have the time to give me a call back, so I'll just bring you up to speed on what's happening at home. Um... oh yeah! I got your gift, how did you know I wanted cash!? Your always so good to me! I just wish you could be here for my birthday!"

The scarred man stands before one of the bay windows gazing outwards. He takes a long draw from one of the bottles on the table until nothing remains and tosses it aside, letting it shatter on the wall.

"I know your work comes first and all that, but I haven't seen you in so long! I tell all my friends about you, but none of them really believe me. I guess that's for the best though, your always telling me to try and keep you a secret from my personal life, but it's really hard when your sibling can regrow his kidneys!"

The man turns about and sifts through a pile of bottles until one is found that seems to be to his liking, mostly due to the fact that a small puddle of alcohol rests in the bottom. He suckles the neck of the glass until even that is gone.

"Well, I must be getting close to the end of my time on this thing soon so I'll finish up. You already have my callback number, so when you get around to it give me a ring. Oh, and remember bro, no matter what happens I'll always lov-" The girl's voice cuts out as the time alotted to her finishes up.

Drunken Reaver seems to regard the machine for a few seconds before passing out.

In another flash Raven was back in the center of the jungle, standing in the same place as before. The only change to her surroundings was that the slothful man was sitting up on his moss-mat and seemed to be regarding her.

Raven waited a solid few second before speaking "Your name is Apathy, isn't it?"

He made no reaction save a raising of his arm, presenting the barrel of his pistol to the Sorceress.

"In a dreamscape like that, all of my senses are filtered through yours, the most I can percieve is what was already percieved by Reaver, which is why I felt like I was drunk. That girl's, your sister's, message was as clear as a bell. You weren't too drunk to understand what she was saying, you just didn't care about her."

Apathy's thumb came up to cock the hammer of the pistol.

"...You and I both know that you don't care enough about my words to pull that trigger."

Their eyes locked, bloodshot and tired with blue and steely.

A solid minute passed before Apathy reacted. "Heh..." He flicked the gun away from himself and took the final swig from his bottle. His eyes glossed over and he slumped to the side.

Raven stared at him. "Despite everything, your still a part of Reaver, which means your smart enough to know what it is I'm doing. Even you must have enough of a survival instinct to know that I'm your only chance at not being trapped inside a vegetable shell. Where do I need to go to end this?"

At first Apathy gave no response, which in fact was not at all surprising, but then Raven saw it. A tiny gesture with one hand, it was only there for an instant, but she saw and knew what it was directed at.

Raven turned about and stared up at the mountain that obscenely lanced into the sky. Wordlessly she took off, never looking back at the aspect of her friend that she would rather leave behind.

Below her, Apathy vomited on himself and chose not to clean it up.


	53. The Mountain of Ideals

"BeastBoy, MOVE!" Cyborg's arm clacks into sonic cannon form. He drops to one knee and sights in down his arm, letting loose a column of blue energy that narrowly sears past an emerald lemur's head. Behind it a caricaturistic playing-card soldier violently explodes in a pulse of sonic energy.

The simian shifts back to green elf and exclaims "DUDE! Cutting it a little close, don'tcha THINK!"

"Maybe if you watched your back, I wouldn't have to!" Cyborg plants his feet and launches a salvo of shots, pushing back the line of paper soldiers.

Overhead, Starfire lets loose with her eyebeams, cutting a deep swath through the small army, all the way to the blue-skinned form of Mumbo Jumbo. "Fools, you cannot stand against the magical might of The Amazing Mumbo!" He hurls a fan of playing cards and waves his wand, summoning more soldiers to replace his losses.

Not before The Boy Wonder goes sprinting straight up the middle, effortlessly avoiding clumsy strikes from the card soldiers. One exceptionally brave soldier, a Jack of diamonds, steps forward to bar his passage. He swings his paper sword around in a wicked cross. Robin drops beneath it and springs back up, planting a foot on what could be construed as the soldier's shoulder, and vaults off straight towards Mumbo's position.

Except the Magician is not there. Robin quickly notices that he's retreated towards the door's of the bank, abandoning his paper army. Robin lands in a wholly unnecessary roll and springs to his feet, crying out "Mumbo!"

"JUMBO!" The magician aims his wand from the doorway, summoning forth a wave of hopping and running rabbits.

Robin lunges to the side, narrowly avoiding the tide of rodents, that then begin to detonate in fiery explosions.

Robin shields himself beneath his cape "Well waddaya know, they explode?" He sarcastically remarks to himself before flinging a fan of birdarangs at the fleeing magician.

"Eek!" Mumbo slams the glass and steel door, protecting himself from the razor-edged onslaught.

The birdarangs were not targeted at him however. Each weapon homes in on one of the door's hinges, neatly slicing them in two. Mumbo looks confused for a moment before the door is blasted off it's frame by an air-borne Robin, plowing Mumbo onto his back with a loud cry of pain.

The two of them painfully slide on the concrete for a second before their both still. Mumbo groans under the door, glances around with his face pressed against the glass. He spies his wand and starts to feebly reach for it. Robin wryly smirks and snatches it up, snapping the tool in half.

The blue face of Mumbo Jumbo snaps back to that of a pale, balding, middle-aged man in a sweater-vest and khakis. He groans beneath the door and mutters "Okay... I give up."

"You don't need to." Robin hops off and kicks the door off the man, hefting him up by his collar.

Cyborg sidles through the shattered doorway, eyeing up the transformed magician. "Nice work Robin. Let's let the cops take care of it from here."

Starfire swooped down and excitedly babbled "Yes, I am most looking forward to returning home and observing the progress our friend Reaver has made on his way to recovery."

"Yeah, knowing him he's probably back on his feet by now." BeastBoy interjected.

"I hope so too BeastBoy, I hope so too..."

* * *

"Why's this gun only got five chambers?" 

A well groomed man in a charcoal business suit sits at a wobbly card table in a dimly lit pawn shop in the bronx. Flickering street light filters in through the bay window, illuminating shelves of second-hand miscellanea set up throughout the small establishment, as well as the dozen or so firearms laid out delicately on the table. Raven stares at him dully from her position in the corner, draped over a metal folding chair, overviewing the exchange between the two men.

The pawn shop owner, a dark skinned man with a thick bushy beard smiles from his seat. "That's because the gun your holding my friend is the Taurus Raging Bull, chambered to fire the .454 Casull cartridge, a shot strong enough to bring down a charging buffalo." For emphasis, the arms dealer slaps down an oversized shell. "With that much power, the chamber gotta be reinforced, otherwise it's disintegrate under the pressure." He grins, displaying more than a few gold teeth. "Anyways, if you got a problem that can't be fixed in five of those little babies, then I'm afraid you got a problem you can't solve."

The suit man traces the details of the polished gun, going over the sweetened hammer all the way down the ten inches of barrel. Raven can feel through this man's senses the smoothness of the barrel, the weight of the steel, and the power of the action as he cocks the action and dry fires it into the air with a satisfying 'click' of the hammer. Satisfied, he sets down the gun and picks up the Casull cartridge, rolling it around in his fingers.

"Nice, isn't it Man? Three G's and you can take her home today."

"How long have I known you Marcus?"

The dealer pauses for a moment at the sudden question. "Um, almost a year I guess."

"Yeah, that seems right. Do you remember a few months back I introduced you to Anthony Krivanos, just so you could stir up a little bit of business. In his line of work he's always looking for some decent hardware, and you've always set me up right, so it seemed natural for me to hook you guys up."

Marcus is silent, an expression of steadily growing worry on his face.

"However, two days ago, Anthony's son passed away, alone and in a gutter covered in vomit. Autopsy report said that it was a heroin overdose. Now, up until that point Anthony was under the impression that his son was clean, so this caught him by surprise to say the least."

Raven noticed out of the corner of her eye Marcus slowly reaching under his table, placing his hand on the underside.

The suited man continued to talk, seemingly oblivious. "Anthony is always very thorough with his subordinates, doing background checks, finding out any priors, that sort of thing. So the second you started working for him, he had you pegged. Which is how he knows that you've been known to deal in a little more than firearms from time to time. Anthony put two and two together."

"S-so he sent you hear to talk to me or something?" Marcus said with an edge of hope in his voice.

"No, I've come here to offer you new life. I'm the one who introduced you to Anthony, so this is my fault. So you have three options Marcus, either you can be smart and gather up what you can and you leave this city and I never see you again. Or you can be proud and let me fulfill my contract, submitting yourself to die painlessly here on the floor of your filthy pawn shop. However, if you feel like being stupid, you can try and take me out with that double barreled twelve-gauge duct-taped to the underside of this table."

Marcus is still for what seems like years. Outside a car zips past, headlights illuminating the pawnshop for a moment before all is as shadowy as it was.

"...I'll take option A... Man."

"Good choice Marcus, good choice." The suitman reaches into his jacket, drawing forth a brick of cash. He wordlessly slaps it on the table and picks up the Raging Bull. He saunters out of the building without taking even a backwards glance at the arms dealer.

And just like that Raven's view snaps back a thousand miles.

She shakes her head, clearing the jargon from her own thoughts. This has occurred many times since she began traversing the mountain in Reaver's consciousness, steadily freeing memories that his own shattered mind cannot comprehend.

Raven's gaze is constantly thrown upward however at the steadily nearing mountaintop as she glided ever upwards. No climber could ever tackle this mountain, after the first mile it was sheer rock face. A narrow column of rock no thicker than two-dozen feet of roughly worked stone.

In her head, images of all that she'd seen kept flickering through her mind's eye. Thanks to Reaver, she'd learned how to give her emotions a little bit of leash without throwing her powers into bedlam, and now dozens of small murmurs constantly rattled inside her skull. A part of her wanted to take the time to meditate and banish their influence, that desire was tempered however with the situation she was currently in.

The cloud cover cut her sight down to about ten feet, which is why the spire's sudden leveling out caught her by surprise. Raven glided to a halt hovering just a few feet over the smooth stone surface, the same look of general confusion and annoyance that had been present on her face since she showed up on the island.

The top of the spire was adorned with three narrow, carved sconces set evenly along the edges. In the direct center of the spire was a narrow pit, no more than five feet across, but seemed to ooze dread. The interior walls were painted a dark shade of black, an effect that made it impossible to judge the depth as Raven peered over the edge of the hole. It could go down for four feet or all the way to the center of the world.

Raven's musings were interrupted by a sudden crack of rock, three actually. She snapped her gaze upwards at the source, the three sconces.

A thin layer of rock flaked away from the surface of each of the sconces and outstepped three different Reavers.

The one to her right held himself regally, chest pushed forward and arms behind his back. His hair and moustache were immaculately groomed, and his uniform was pressed and neat. Outwardly it was similar to a double-front buff coat except much tighter to the frame. Tight leggings topped a pair of light shoes, impeccably identical. The entire outfit was colored in black and lined in red. Sharply, he barked out one word "Discipline."

The one to her left was far more laid back. His physique was reminiscent of when Reaver first joined the Titans, unassuming and slightly overweight. The same turtle-shell glasses sat on his face, right below a mat of unkempt hair barely tamed into a ponytail. His clothes were nothing but a simple white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He scratched his face and called out "Wisdom."

The last one stood directly in front of her across the pit. His only clothing was a pair camouflage parachute pants and a black muscle shirt, as the straps across his chest that held in place the multitude of weapons across his broad frame. Rifles, pistols, knives, and at least two swords made up this Reaver's arsenal. His hair was cropped short to his head, and a look of dogged determination was set onto his face. He spat out the word "Retribution!"

All three then spoke in perfect unison "We three avatars, held as Reaver's most valued ideals, stand in respect to the guest in the mind."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "...It's nice to see you all share Reaver's flair for the unnecessarily dramatic."

Discipline stepped forward, going into a low bow. "Good to finally meet you Miss Raven, I had heard of your coming. Let me be the first to say that I and we are eternally grateful for what you have done today."

"...Really?" An edge of disbelief apparent in the girl's voice.

Wisdom chimed in "What he's trying to say, Raven, is that you were successful. What you've done so far has allowed your friend to recover. Once his mind relapses again, it will be able to keep itself whole and intact enough so that, in time, he will heal."

Retribution added "An' now that your finished, feel free to roll on out of here at any time, cuz I don't know if you've noticed but Fury's been on your tail the whole time you've been here. So how about making tracks out of our head. It could tear us apart if something happened to ya."

"I can't leave, the spell is set to last twelve hours, whether I'm done or not."

The three glanced at one another for a second before Wisdom spoke. "She's telling the truth, she can't leave of her own volition."

Discipline responded with "Is there somewhere we can hide her?"

"From Fury? Cha, not likely. An' it's not like we can fight him worth a damn either."

"Fury is easily distracted, maybe if we present some sort of bait."

"Then who are we going to make into a lamb?"

The three avatars kept debating amongst themselves as if Raven were not standing in their presence. It didn't matter, she had stopped listening. Instead, her focus was entirely on the pit in front of her. In the time she'd been in the mind of her friend, she'd grown quite adept at sensing the mental significance behind these things through a combination of intuition and psychic detection.

These men were the three things that Reaver believed to be most important, so he placed them on a metaphorical pedestal, separating them from the rest of his mind. If that was the case, then this pit must lead somewhere equally important, but perhaps something he'd rather leave forgotten, but couldn't.

"Where does this hole go?" she politely inquired.

All three avatars went silent for a moment before saying in perfect unison "That is not for you to see!" then they dropped back into their previous argument about how best to take care of her.

Raven grit her teeth in frustration. For a moment she had the urge to lash out at the avatars, but instead held her tongue. They represented very different things, but they all had in common Reaver's overbearing sense of responsibility, that combined with his stubborness made negotiation nearly impossible. The sorceress decided to not waste anymore time talking and took the step into oblivion.

All three once again shouted in unison a cry of "NO!", the three of them making a lunge to stop her from taking the dive. They were too late however, as Raven's petite form plunged into yawning darkness.

* * *

An eternity later, she landed. Hard. 

Raven grunted on impact with the stone floor, feeling a dull ache expand from the impact. Realistically, she would have been pudding from such a fall, thankfully though she wasn't exactly in reality at this point.

She had no bearing on exactly how far she'd fallen, only a dull sense of how long she'd been plunging through the tunnel over her head. A glance over her head showed the mouth of the pit as nothing but a pin-prick of light.

A pan around the room revealed nothing to her except hard shadows and muggy darkness. Raven stands up and brushes dust off of her cloak.

"Why are you here?"

Raven perks up at the sudden voice, somewhat intrigued by the youthful tone tone to it.

"Nobody is supposed to be here."

Raven finally responds "Where am I?"

"The hidden place. Nobody, not even Reaver, can look down here. It's too dark."

"I never had Reaver pegged for someone who hid from his own mind."

"He thought the same thing of you, Ms. Raven."

Raven felt a slight sting from the comment. "It was thanks to him that I can now feel anything without hurting anyone. Making Reaver to overcome his own fears doesn't make me a hypocrite, it keeps him from becoming one." Raven sighed and spat "I don't have time for this childishness, neither of us do for that matter. If there is any chance that the things hidden in this cave will make your mind tear itself apart I won't allow it to go unnoticed. You made these choices, nobody else Reaver and if you hide from them your nothing but a pathetic coward!"

Everything was quiet for a moment as Raven's declaration echoed in the chamber for what seemed like hours before finally dying out.

One word came out of the darkness.

"Choice..."

The voice was husky, strong, and sounded like it came through grit teeth. "How **_dare _**you speak to me about choice."

The room was suddenly lit by a flickering fire on the ceiling, casting dim orange light all around it's expanse. Raven's eyes widened to see what was hidden within it's confines.

Corpses, dozens upon dozens of freshly mutilated bodies decorated the cavern like macabe sculptures. Steaming blood oozed from large, mortal gashes on their bodies which stood in impossible stances. None of the bodies possessed faces however, simply smooth featureless planes that betrayed no identity.

There were more details, Raven knew, but that was all she could see before a shape flashed towards her and slammed her full force against a the wall. After that the bodies could have disappeared for all she knew.

The beast that held her against the wall was darkness, not shadow, not merely an absence of light, but darkness. Raven was never really sure of it's exact shape as she couldn't really tell where it was, only where it wasn't. The only distinguishable features were two orbs of deep red floating in the black shape, orbs she'd seen before.

"You know nothing of choice!" The voice had the same forceful huskiness as before, but now was filled to the brim with malice. "I _never_ had a choice in what I am, never! What I am was decided long ago, I didn't ask to be this way, I was made to be this way!"

Raven pushed at the arm, giving herself enough purchase to speak "Fury... I presume."

Somehow Raven got the impession that the beast smiled. "That is correct girl, for everything that Reaver says that he is, he can never escape me. He rages over his past, he hates that which he cannot control, and he maddens at what he has become. You can't save him girl, nobody can. Reaver has always been damned for simply being himself, the world's just now catching up."

"I... will bring Reaver out of this." she gasped forth.

"That's where your wrong girl, because Reaver doesn't want to be saved. Deep down, I know that Reaver wants to finally die because he knows, doesn't think **knows**, that he should. If only you could know what he's done, but even I have enough mercy to spare you that."

Raven sensed Fury smile again, and vainly struggled against her captor. Without warning, Raven heard something new. A jaunted, melancholy cry from the steepened shadows behind Fury. She recognized the youthful tone from earlier.

From behind her captor stepped a child, no older than seven dressed in blue Thomas the Tank Engine pajamas far too small for his frame. In one arm he clutched a stuffed bear, and with the other he rubbed at his tearing eyes. His steady cries were quiet and muted, but undeniably sad. He was able to stutter out "Fury," the boy sniffs back a sob "leave her alone."

Fury whipped around "Shame! Leave now, this is how it has to be! This is the only way to find peace!"

The child clutched the bear tighter and shouted "NO! It isn't right, she just wants to help us, and your hurting her!"

Fury released Raven, much to the girl's relief, and whipped around to face the boy. "She doesn't understand Shame, just like everyone else. You know better than anyone why it has to be this way."

"We can't die, not yet!"

"WHY!" Fury lunged at the boy.

"Because I'm afraid!" The boy screamed and his cry seemed to warp space. Fury for a moment was wholly distinguishable from his environment before being immolated in sudden light that came from the boy. With a growl Fury was gone.

The boy was in a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Gently rubbing her neck, Raven staggered to her feet. She shook her head and slowly padded over to the boy.

Raven knelt down over him, arms folded. "This is your sanctum, isn't it?"

"Y-yes."

"What happened to Fury?"

"Nothing, he'll be back soon. We're closely linked, he's angry about me being ashamed, I'm ashamed over what he does when he's angry."

Raven lifted her hand and slowly began reaching towards the boy.

"Don't."

Raven paused.

"You won't like what you see."

Raven pondered for a moment before placing her palm on the boy's sobbing shoulder.

She found herself in a candlelit stone room, furniture piled against the door, on the opposite side is a woman clutching two weeping children. The door is slammed open, scattering the makeshift barricade. Standing in the door is a broad man wearing a chainmail hauberk brandishing a sword and a repeater crossbow. The woman clutches her children closer and begins whispering consolations to them. The man smirks and opens fire.

Raven blinks and finds herself standing on an embankment over a trench, coils of concertina wire forming a ward against infantry. From all around sounds of shots and machine gun fire buffet her with sound. Beneath her she can see a soldier in olive drab rushing through the trench, clutching his garand with white knuckle grip. Ahead of him a squad of soldiers in a dugout hold the embankment against a charge of german soldiers. The fleeins soldier yells "He's right behind me!"

The Americans turn just in time to see the soldier's forehead explode off of his face in a spray. The rest bring around their rifles to aim at the figure that bursts out of the trench. It leaps feet first and crushes a soldier's ribcage against a sandbag wall. Without missing a beat he levels a Luger at another soldier and drops him with a double tap to the neck. The figure flips back to avoid a fusillade of Garand rounds and opens fire with his pistol again, dropping two more soldiers before clicking dry. The remaining soldiers flee down the opposite trench, looks of terror on their faces. A flung stick grenade lands at their feet from behind, casting them all into oblivion.

From the explosion Raven is banished to a small room, not much larger than a walk-in closet, decorated with smiling bears over blue painted on the walls. The rooms only light came from a cracked nightlight in the wall shaped to resemble a smiling elmo. In the corner was a crib, one of the bars snapped outwards, the mobile that hovered over it was decorated with sparkling half moons, but unfortunately it sat lopsided with more than half of it's pieces torn off. Shelves adorned the walls, all lovingly filled with an assemblage of infant toys. Despite all of this, no infant was to be found, but rather a mirror image of the small boy Raven had met in the cavern, mussed hair, painfully small pajamas, and weeping eyes. At the moment he was hugging his legs, rocking back and forth in front of the door, light streaming through the crack underneath it.

It was at that moment Raven became aware of voices passing through the walls, a woman's voice first "Alright I found a splint for it and some tape."

A gruff, masculine voice responded "Fine."

"Here, let me."

"I got it."

"You won't be able to wrap it right, let me do it."

"I said I got it."

"Let me-"

"Leave it!" Then there was a clatter of metal and breaking glass. "Shit!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry! Let me get it."

"NO! Just... just back off. I got it." A few moments "Fuck!"

"What's wrong?"

"You know damn well what's wrong! What the hell am I supposed say at work tomorrow when the see my finger in a splint, or a bunch of fucking cuts on my arm, huh? Oh what, the kid and I got in another fucking scrap and, get this, he WON!? Christ Tracy, he-he looks like he's fucking seven and he's as strong as an ox. He's a fucking monster!"

"He's our son!"

"He's a freak of nature is what he is! The brat is two! TWO! And look what he did, the whole damn room is a fucking ruin, over what? Fucking NOTHING!"

"Maybe if you showed him some love every once in a while!"

"How can I? He's a goddamn freak Tracy! A goddamn freak!"

"Don't say that! He can hear you!"

"Good! Maybe now the little brat will know not to bite the hand that feeds. You hear that you godless MONSTER!"

"Quiet!" There's a shuffling of feet a moment later.

"Leggo!" The sound of a loud crack, a shout, and a body falling to the floor is heard a moment later.

Tracy lets out a startled gasp "You...you hit me!"

"Your own damn fault, don't you ever go off on me like that again..."

"You goddamn bastard!" Thumping footsteps are heard followed by a pained grunt, and then the sound that Raven recognises as knuckles on jaw.

"What did I just fucking, TELL YOU!" A thump and a muffled gasp are heard followed by deep gasps for breath. "Seven goddamn tries Tracy, seven squeling kids and ten years of my life I'm not gonna get back. It took you that long to finally give me a damn son, that fucking long for you finally give me my legacy, someone to carry my father's name, and you squirt out that... _thing._ That monster is supposed to be my mark, it's a freak, it doesn't even look like me for christ's sake."

Tracy's only response was low sobbing.

"That reminds me Tracy, guess what came in the mail today." Raven heard a drawer sliding open with a pitched squek. "The paternity test came here today, and guess what it fucking said?"

Tracy let out a muffled, wet "What?"

"No match, fucking hilarious, ain't it?"

A long time passed then, the only noise was the low sobbing of a child and the occasionally click of a ceiling fan in need of maintenence.

"It's wrong."

"So who've you been fucking on the side Tracy? John? Michael? Or is it some fucker I don't even know about? Huh?"

"No, the test is wrong there's nobody else. You hear me, noone!"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO ME!" Tracy cried out then, followed by a series of loud cracks and slaps. "Who the fuck is it Tracy! WHO'VE YOU BEEN FUCKING!?"

"No, let me go! HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE!"

"Get back here you WHORE!"

Raven heard a door jam rattle and then Tracy scream "GET OFF! HELP! PLEASE! HELP ME-E-E-E-E!"

"SHUT UP!" Raven heard a ceramic scrape followed by a shattering smash and the thump of a body striking the floor. She could hear ragged breath from the other side of the door. "I hope that it was worth it Tracy, I hope it was fucking worth it."

Loud stomping foot steps followed and then to door to the room slid open. Silouhetted against the light was a man, his features obscured by the light but in his hands he bore a crowbar. He glanced about before settling his gaze on the child. He pointed the weapon and uttered "You."

The child started to stand and mewed out "Daddy?"

"RRAAAAHHH!" The man charged the short distance and baseball swung the tool cracking the boy in the scull. The little form ragdolles across the small room and smashed through the side of the crib, splintering the old wood.

"You still alive you little shit? Your gonna wish you never crawled out of that filthy whore!"

The ruin of the crib shifted and a meek form started to rise out of it, a stream of red flowing from his scalp.

The man winds up for another swing, bringing the bar around in a hail mary arc. The child jumps impossibly high then, latching onto the man's face and begins ripping and tearing, shredding and ruining. The man stumbles back out the door, fumbling for the form latched onto him. His footing escapes him and he crashes to the ground, finally dislodging the child from his face in doing so.

The man is rolling, hands trying to stem the flow of blood in his face. His screams are long and loud, wordless curses that bounce off deaf ears.

Through his fingers the man opens an eye, taking a hesitant peek around the room through stilted gasps of pain. He looks just in time to see the crowbar swung into his face blunt side first. What remains of his vision explodes in pain as his body ragdolls to the side. The child stalks closer, crowbar dangling from his petite hands.

The man is pressed up against the wall, cowering from his own son. He can hazily make out the demon in blue choo-choo pajamas stalking closer. He extends a hand and shouts "NO!! PLEASE!!"

The child lifts the tool and brings it down on the man's face. Over and over again, doing what comes all too naturally to him. He stops moving after just five swings, stops breathing after twenty.

The boy rises, an look of grim determination on his face, still clutching the crowbar. He glances up at the head of the weapon, slick with gore, half an eyebrow dangling from the end.

From his side there is a stirring. A beaten, pretty woman rises up. A trickle of blood and swelling keeps her right eye shut. But with her left, she surveys the room. "...My god." Her gaze snaps over. "What..?"

It is then, with a stark flash of epiphany, the young boy seems to realize what has just taken place. The bar clatters to the floor as a look of horrified revulsion passes over his features. "What...who did this Mommy? What happened to Daddy?"

To her credit, Tracy wastes no time in rushing over to her son. She wraps her arms around his small body and holds him tightly, running her hand through his blood splattered hair. "It's going to be alright sweetie, this is all just a bad dream. We're both gonna wake up any minute now, and everything's going to be fine. Just you see."

Raven blinked at the scene before her as the world around started to slow and become indistinct. From behind she heard a familiar voice. "It wasn't just a dream though, as I suppose you've been able to surmise."

Raven turned around and saw, well, me. In all my glory.

The dark girl wryly replied "About time you showed up."

"Yeah well, I was too busy being a wuss."

Raven stood silently bemused for a moment after that, simply staring at the slowly fading mindscape. The girl had me dead to rights and she knew it.

I sighed and pressed my palms to the back of me head "Listen, I know that half of the stuff you've seen in here doesn't make a lick of sense, and I can explain it all-"

She silenced me with a suddenly raised hand. "Save it. I'm not going to have you explain anything to me when your disadvantaged by having an intruder in your mind. After my spell ends and you've recovered; we'll talk. Until then, I don't want you to breathe a word."

I was struck by her generosity. Inside my mind as she was, I couldn't hide anything from her. I knew for a fact that Raven was at the very least a competent psychic, so my mind was almost an open book to her now that she'd spent time getting acquainted with the nuances of it. If she wanted a truth, she could easily find it with just a casual perusal of my psyche, but instead she was willing to let me present my case on even footing.

Then she added "Anyway, my spell is going to end in about twelve seconds."

I slumped "A little bit more warning would have been nice."

She didn't get a chance to respond as I felt the sensation of the whole world being turned into cotton-balls and then getting stuffed into my skull. There was a brief bit of pain and then warmth. For the first time in days I opened my eyes to be greeted by a series of blue and red indistinct blurs.

It was then that I became aware of the bolts of red agony tearing through my whole body. I bite back to urge to scream, but that's hard to pull off when the backs of my eyes are scorched. A few moments later I became aware of faces pressed against my cylindrical prison, the mirth on them near palpable.

Wisps of excited voice come through the tube, and my vision clears to show an orange and purple mass leaping up and down with a shamble of green. A glowing blue giant stands apart from them, his stance tense. A reddish-yellow wraith is on the opposite side standing stoic and proud.

I can't focus on any of them however, because all of my attention is on the blue blob standing in the doorway. She turns to stare at me for second before the sliding door shuts her off.

I'd like to say I knew more, but I was suddenly filled with an inarguably powerful fatigue from my few scant seconds in the world of the waking.

* * *

The door quietly slid shut in front of her. Raven let out the breath she was holding. The girl turned the hall and took two steps before she had to lean against the wall for support. A cold sweat broke out across her brow as a shudder crawled up her spine.

The Sorceress wiped her face before muttering to herself. "Reaver, you are a _monster_."


	54. Exposition

"1...2...3...and breathe."

Aside from my slow mantra; the room is quiet. I'm shirtless for a reason that escapes me at the moment. My scarred and damaged body is currently being pushed through a series of freeweight stances. My feet gliding over the polished stone floor of my casting chamber, dancing shadows cast by flickering and sputtering tallow candles.

I had only been actually walking under my own power for about two days, and even then only at my stubborn insistence. I told them that in order to properly recover, I needed privacy to concentrate. They decided to throw me that bone.

My arms dip low in a tentative swoop, my feet struggle to keep up for a second before my balance is back.

That was true enough I suppose. I was still badly hurt, however seclusion wouldn't make that pass any faster...

I take a too-wide step and my foot slips on the stone. I try to catch myself with my arm but foul it up, impacting my skull on the stone for my trouble.

The truth is I'm really fucking weak.

"Rrrr, GODDAMMIT!" My fist finds it's way to a stone pillar sending a few shards of rock flying. I barely noticed however as wracking agony tore up my arm. I grunted and clutched it, my knees giving out underneath me.

Every movement is torment, every pump of my heart is a jolt of pain, every swallow of spit burns like liquid copper. My bones are glass, my skin is wet paper, my muscles are thread-bare sheets, it's all maddening beyond words.

I lie on the cold stone floor trying to will the pain down to a tolerable level, but everytime I twitch black spots swim in my vision from the torture of it all. The only thing that keeps me from just letting myself black out is the gnawing knowledge that it is not going to get any better.

Any moment now, Raven could come walking through the door, spitting out questions, questions she won't like the answers to. That's assuming she hasn't told anyone else about the things she's seen. Either way, I'm on borrowed time, an inmate waiting his sentencing hearing for a laundry list of crimes.

For the hundredth time I consider trying to run, and for the hundredth time I realize the futility of it. I'm too hurt to really make it to the bottom floor undetected. If I actually managed to get away it would be because they let me. My room had become my prison, if you'll excuse the flawed analogy.

The waiting was killing me so much in fact that it was almost a relief when a blue headed sorceress stepped into my view as I lay on the floor and mouthed something, but I was unable to hear what. It was then that I realized that I had gone deaf for some reason or another, an annoying problem that kept cropping up over the last few days. I ignored and focused on regenerating the chronically breaking part of my ear for a few moments before it came back.

"-ur on the floor?" I catch the tail end of Raven's question.

"Repeat that." I hoarsely whisper.

"...I said: Is there a reason your on the floor?"

"None in particular, just a gravity." I sat up clutching my murky head.

Raven's arms folded. "How are you feeling?"

"Shitty. Well, now that the questions are done please show yourself out." I glanced up at her to see an un-amused pout on her face "Right, I didn't think it was going to be that easy."

"Since your obviously up to talking, I suppose I'll start. Have you figured out what went wrong with your spell yet?"

Of all the questions I was ready to answer, that wasn't one of them. "Er, well... um. No, I haven't really felt up to it yet. I had just assumed that I had carved the circle wrong or improperly balanced the ritual to accept multiple casters."

She shook her head "No, what happened that day was... all my fault."

I decided to go over the implications of that statement in my head, weigh the words if you will. "Explain."

"It was something I overlooked. From my study of how your magic works I didn't think it would be a factor, I was wrong."

"What are you talking about Raven?"

"I... my father was a full-blooded demon Reaver, making me a half-demon."

To this day, I am glad that when she told me that I was so infirm that I couldn't stand up. Becaus if I wasn't, I know for a fact that Raven would have had to have killed me to keep me from ripping her blueberry head right off.

Nevertheless, I found the strength to roll over onto my stomach and slowly, ever so slowly, started to drag myself up.

Sadly, I didn't get the chance to see if I could have actually stood or not. I swiftly found myself ensorcelled into a bubble of onyx and lifted up off the floor. Before I could so much as shout the bubble receded down to a second skin around my entire body, save my head. To the girl's credit it was actually fairly comfortable.

"I can feel your anger Reaver, and you have every right in the world to be mad at me. But that doesn't excuse what we both saw in your mind!"

I glared daggers "Why the hell should I tell you anything, you disgusting little half-breed!"

"Because if you don't I'll tell Robin what I saw and he won't give you a chance to explain yourself! What I know is enough information for him to dig up some record and put you away for a long time, but I'm giving you a chance to tell me what it was I saw in your mind."

"So your blackmailing me into gushing my life story to you or your gonna run off and tell Robin that I've done some bad shit, is that it? I take it back, your not a disgusting little half-breed, your a disgusting half-breed who also happens to be a MANIPULATIVE CUNT!" I hauled on the telekinetic restraints, grunting and seething in a vain effort to free myself. It hurt, oh did it hurt. I blocked out the pain with a shield of rage, rage at this stupid little girl who had actually killed me, dragged me back from the brink of death, and now was holding what she learned in the process over my head like a guilloutine.

After a solid minute of agonized pulling, I slackened my body, breathing like air was a precious commodity. "Why..."

"Why what?"

"Why the fuck did you tell me that the accident was your fault? If all you wanted was me to explain what it was you saw, why piss me off so much first?"

"Because I'm not, as you put it so kindly, a manipulative cunt. You had a right to know so I told you. Believe me Reaver, I know full well that I don't have any right to your memories, but the others do." She lowered me down to the ground. "If there is anything in this world, much less living in the tower, that could prove to be a liability to my friends then I need to know about it. This isn't about me Reaver, it's about keeping them out of danger and if you have to be removed to facilitate that I'll hurl you out of here myself."

I raised my head "So it's loyalty... huh?"

"So it would seem." My shackles disappeared "Now are you ready to talk, or do you need to go back up on the wall?"

I rubbed my neck where the collar of the bubble grated my skin. "Sure Raven, let's talk."

* * *

"First of all Raven, how old do you think I am?"

Raven shifts in her seat across from across the room. I've fully sunken myself into my velvet chair, a tall glass of straight Jack on the table next to me. "From the memories I saw, at least seventy."

"Your wrong." I took a long draw from my glass. "I told you all the truth, I'm only twenty-one."

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Raven, I use magic. The first rule of magic is that the impossible is anything but."

"...So you have transplanted memories?" The gothic sorceress questioned.

"In a fashion. I will admit that my magic affords me a longer life, much longer in fact. However the real strength isn't in that aspect, nor our strength or even our healing capability. The strength of Lifeblood magic is that of it's practitioners ability to rise again."

Raven leaned forward. "You mean come back from the dead?"

"Let me tell you a story Raven. One day, many, many years ago, there existed a man, his wife, and his two sons. One cold winter's day the man was out, his home was visited by traveler, a road-weary and desperate sort. Out of sympathy the man's wife ushered him inside, giving him food and warmth, possibly saving the traveler's life. Despite all of her action, the traveler spoke not a word. Believing him mute, the man's wife let the man be until he was rested. Later that day, when the man returned home and found the stranger in his home. When he asked the stranger his name, he declared himself Odin, King of all gods. The man was surprised, but nonetheless still offered Odin his hospitality. When it came time for Odin to leave, the man bid him to thank his wife for bringing him to the hearth. When he did so, Odin struck him down, shouting that thanks were not necessary for one such as himself to give. Odin turned to leave, but the man stood once more and once more demanded Odin give his wife the thanks she deserved. Again did Odin strike the man down, and again did he stand, demanding thanks. Thrice more did Odin strike the man down, five in total, before he lay still. Impressed with the man's tenacity, he declared that all who bear his blood shall need to fall five times before finally dying."

I took a much needed breath. "That is the origination story of Lifeblood Raven, we must die five times before we're moved on to our final reward."

"And the memories?"

"Passed on from previous lives. When a Lifeblood warrior dies, they are reborn a year later among their clan and grow at an exponential rate, becoming a perfect duplicate of their form when they died in as little as seven years. Memories aren't passed along directly, but rather events surrounding injury. Each scar on my body is imprinted with a memory, so that I wouldn't lose my fighting capabilities even after death." I chuckled slightly then, I'm not sure why. "We were meant the be the greatest warriors of all ages. Strong enough to knock down a house, faster than a horse, and tough enough to keep on fighting after our enemies ran us through. Peerless in every way, or so we thought."

"What happened?"

"We ran out of enemies to put it bluntly. We defeated all of our clan's enemies so we started to hire ourselves to anyone who could afford it, always in secret mind you. It was our belief that glory was the antithesis of what we should seek. That victory itself should be reward enough. The Crusades, the conquering of Ireland, The China/Mongolian conflict, The Three Kingdoms era, The Hundred Years war, The Russian Time of Troubles, The Camelot wars, even the American Revolution saw my clan's involvement. Heh, I remember being shot with a musket for the first time and saying that blackpowder would never catch on."

"Why isn't your clan around anymore?"

"We got too spread out, order broke down. Warriors separated from a strong power base lost their sense of purpose and went rogue, choosing sides. That's what happened to me at least."

"Why'd you quit."

"I was on my third incarnation when I was fighting on a mission and I went up against a battle brother. I slew him still and completed my job but I realised that the clan was a dying beast. I haven't heard from them since."

"Which incarnation are you on now?"

"This is my fifth, once I bite the bullet this time... that's it."

"When was your first incarnation born?"

"I'm not really sure on that one, but my best guess is sometime in the early 12th century."

"Reaver... that would make you a little less than eight-hundred years old."

"That would be right." I quaffed the last of my glass and started to refill it. "

"Why didn't you tell us this before?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were a half-demon?"

The sorceress bit her lip. I sighed and continued "We all have painful memories we'd rather not dwell on. Imagine being reborn into a family that we'd rather not dwell on. Imagine being reborn into a family that had no idea what Lifeblood magic is, growing up with memories of violent murder and carnage still fresh in your mind, having a vivid memory of dying in a fire. Compound all that with the fact that I grew like a mutant and was stronger than my father, it drove me to do terrible things, it drove me to murder my own father." I stared at my palm, focusing on the leathery callouses and faint scarring. "He was right, I was a monster."

The two of us sat there for a long while after that, neither really knowing what to say to the other. Raven stands up and shuffles over to me, extending a hand from the folds of her robe.

"I'd like you to leave Raven."

She stopped and slowly receded her hand back into her robe. Wordlessly she glided away, the only noise of her passage being the slight swoosh of the door back into the tower proper.

I took a sip from my glass, swinging down a hand to pet the grey cat that sauntered by.

"Good Vortucal."


	55. Titan

I eventually healed up not long after that, but it was still agonizingly slow from my perspective. I returned to work with gusto however, relishing being back in the field.

Things seemed to move preposterously fast after that. Eventually I worked my way through the Titans rogue's gallery in full. Mad Scientists, Apocalyptic Monsters, and Malevolent Villains came and went, the six of us standing against and defeating them every time.

This went on for weeks, then months, and then years passed by. It was the longest I'd ever stayed in one place by a wide margin. I was with the Titans all the way up to their disbandment in fact, and beyond.

Robin moved on the Bludhaven city and donned the mantle of Nightwing, I assume because to work in a city with such a pretentious name, you have to have a name just as pretentious. I don't think Robin ever really trusted me the same way he did everyone else. I don't blame him, he's a good read of a person and I sure as hell wouldn't trust me. I see him every now and then, occasionally dropping by to help him out with something and vice versa. He's a good man and I respect him still.

BeastBoy rejoined the Doom Patrol when Memento was forced out due to injury, and stayed on afterwards at Memento's urging. I came with him for a while, but returned after only a few weeks. Of all the original Titans, I liked him the best. BeastBoy never judged me, not even once, which can't even be said of Starfire, and I deeply appreciated that. I still treat him like a little brother whenever I see him, something that I don't think I'll stop doing.

I haven't seen Cyborg in years. He butted heads with Robin and split just a few months before the official disbandment of the Titans for parts unknown. I hear rumors every now and then from the guys at Titans East that he's working for the Star Labs as a programmer, but I can't say for sure. I miss him deeply, and wish him all the best.

Starfire eventually returned to her home planet to participate in a war with some interplanetary world raiders called the Gordanians. It would be years before I heard from her again, and even then it was only when she came to Earth to help us fight off the Gordanians ourselves. She's now the Tamaranian liaison to Earth, a position she enjoys as it leaves her with plenty of time for entertaining friends. She is a proud, beautiful warrior and I love her like a sister, but nothing more than that.

Raven is the only one I keep in touch with regularly. She swings by a couple of times a month to help me out and keep me appraised of the progress on her home. When the Titans disbanded, she left this reality altogether to rebuild Azeroth, a slow going process that will take decades, if not centuries. I help where I can but it's complex work and involves magics I am unschooled in. She never did tell anyone about what she found in my mind, and for that I am eternally grateful.

And as for myself? I'm still here, in Jump City, keeping the peace and fighting the good fight. The tower is still here, but it does not stand empty. The halls are alive with new faces, youngsters eager to learn and study and fight. I teach them here, how to control their powers and use them for the benefit of themselves and society as a whole. All I ask of them is that they use their gifts responsibly, and that I am entitled to bore them with my old stories whenever I so choose. The Jump City Academy of the New Titans they call it, I simply call it home.

I've never been good at ending things, so I won't. Instead, I shall simply tell you who I am. I am Vidac Gans; third echelon champion of the perfect kill under Clan Gans, born Percival Novack, son of Tracy and David Novack, bestowed with the name Man and then occluded under the Vigilante title of Reaver. I have defied gods and demons, I have slain men and women alike, I have stood against monsters and freaks, and I have died four times. I am a killer, a warrior, a hero, a teacher and a liar, but more than all of that…

I am a Titan

Heya folks, long time no see huh?

If you're reading this, you're probably one of the very few people to have stayed faithful to this story during its several year long deadness, or you forgot to remove it from your alert list. Either way, thanks for reading. I hope that you'll indulge me just a bit more.

I started this story way back in 2004 when I was but a wee lad of seventeen years, and it shows. Looking back on the prose I wrote during my early chapters I can't help but laugh the same way you would upon looking at an embarrassing baby photo of yourself. One thing that amazed me then and still does was the sheer number of different people who enjoyed my work; really enjoyed it. It absolutely floored me that with all of the other works readily available, they chose to read mine. It's a truly flattering feeling to know that someone chose to spend their time reading something I wrote. It's because of that that I'm choosing to supply this sendoff after all this time. Ultimately, I am beholden to my readers.

I can't help but love the sarcastic, conniving asshole that is the character Reaver, and I'll always have a special place for him in my mind. I had, and still have, a great many ideas for arcs with him; Reaver confronting the remnant of his clan, the resurrection of Terra, the healing of Batgirl, Shimmer's return, but that's all they are; ideas. Flights of fancy that would inevitably run into the ground everything that I'd worked towards.

One thing that I adamantly refuse to be is boring, which is what Stained Claws would eventually become if I had continued. I set out on this story with the simple intention to write, and nothing more. I had no ending planned or in sight, just more and more and more of the same stuff. Like I said above, I have no talent for endings, which in my opinion are the most important part of any story. I am ultimately beholden only to my readers, whom I have let down these past many years.

So it is here, at the conclusion of my latest arc, that I end Stained Claws. I like to think it's as good as place as any for an ending, a real ending. I can only hope it gave you the closure it gave me.


End file.
